J Korean Acad Oral Health.  2024 Jun;48(2):40-48. 10.11149/jkaoh.2024.48.2.40.

A qualitative study on the oral health of mobile platform workers: focus on tooth brushing experience

• Ryu JI
• Tak NY

• KMID: 2556593
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.11149/jkaoh.2024.48.2.40

Abstract

Objectives
The landscape of work environments has undergone rapid transformation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to identify oral health issues among mobile platform workers, analyze the risk factors within their working environment, and promote their oral health.
Methods
A purposive sampling approach was employed to select fifteen participants, including replacement drivers, delivery drivers, and delivery couriers/messengers operating within Seoul’s mobile platform workforce. In-depth interviews were conducted between August and November 2023, with all sessions recorded and transcribed. Utilizing grounded theory methodology, data analysis progressed through stages of open coding, axial coding, and selective coding, ultimately leading to the construction of a paradigm model.
Results
The majority of participants were male (93.3%), with an average age of 58.7 years. The paradigm model revealed low tooth brushing rates among mobile platform workers. This phenomenon was attributed to a poor brushing environment and a lack of willingness to brush, with the related context being the poor working environment. Intervention conditions included support for tooth brushing, oral health education, and oral examinations. Implementing an action-interaction strategy, which involves problem-solving pathways and a strong motivation to improve, resulted in improved tooth brushing rates.
Conclusions
To promote the oral health of mobile platform workers, it is essential to improve the environment for tooth brushing, particularly by increasing the availability of restrooms and related facilities as brushing spaces. Additionally, It is necessary to develop oral health policies and implement interventions based on an understanding of the working environment of mobile platform workers.

Keyword

Occupational health; Oral health; Qualitative research; Social determinants of health; Toothbrushing

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Basic paradigm model.

• 

  Fig. 2 A paradigm model for the oral health of platform workers providing transportation services.

Reference

References

1. Kim JJ. A critical review of spreading digital platform labor and its pitfalls. Economy and Society. 2020; 296–322. DOI: 10.18207/criso.2020..125.296.

2. Ministry of Employment and Labor. News, Press release, Announced the results of the scale and working conditions of platform workers in 2022 (Digital Labour Response TF) [Internet]. Available from: https://url.kr/doujch. cited 2023 Feb 19.

3. Kang MJ, Kim SY. 2021; Why do delivery app drivers continue to work on delivery?-drawing on bourdieu's forms of capital. Korean J Soc Welf Stud. 73:65–94.

4. Jang JH, Yun JH, Lee SG, Jo HJ. 2021. Platform workers' health status and improvement plans-focusing on the working environment and health status of mobile platform workers. Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) Research Center;Soeul: p. 1–317.

5. Baek HJ, Jeon YI. 2021; Health problems for delivery drivers. J Occup Health. 395:22–25.

6. Ryu JI, Cha EG. 2023; Related factors for the denture needs among platform workers in seoul. Korean Acad Oral Health. 47:73–79. DOI: 10.11149/jkaoh.2023.47.2.73.

7. Kim TH, Lee SY, Park JS. 2022; The shadow of dawn delivery: the insecurity of dawn delivery workers and how to reform the system. Quarterly Journal of Labor Policy. 22:1–31.

8. Van Rijnsoever FJ. 2017; (I can't get no) saturation: a simulation and guidelines for sample sizes in qualitative research. PLoS One. 12:e0181689. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181689. PMID: 28746358. PMCID: PMC5528901.

9. Vasileiou K, Barnett J, Thorpe S, Young T. 2018; Characterising and justifying sample size sufficiency in interview-based studies: systematic analysis of qualitative health research over a 15-year period. BMC Med Res Methodol. 18:1–18. DOI: 10.1186/s12874-018-0594-7. PMID: 30463515. PMCID: PMC6249736.

10. Choi JY. 2014. The concept of grounded theory and research methods. Korea Insitute for Health and Social Affairs;Sejong: p. 1–18.

11. Corbin JM, Strauss AL. 2015. Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. 4th ed. SAGE Publications Inc;Los Angeles (CA): p. 1–431.

12. Hong JY, Sohn SK. 2024; Experience of Clinical Adaptation among Nurses in Intensive Care Unit. J Korean Crit Care Nurs. 17:1–16. DOI: 10.34250/jkccn.2024.17.1.1.

13. Nam JY, Son IS, Kim TH, Nam YY. 2024; Experience of Mental Healthcare Services by Family Caregivers of Patients With Mental Disorders. J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc. 63:38–48. DOI: 10.4306/jknpa.2024.63.1.38.

14. Yoon CM, You MA. 2023; The Effects of the Infant Health Promotion Program for Mothers with Their Firstborn Infants. J Korean Acad Nurs. 53:666–677. DOI: 10.4040/jkan.23056. PMID: 38204349.

15. Ryu JI, Park HA, Lee SJ, Jeon JE. 2021; A qualitative study on the evaluation of the registered dentists' program of dentists. J Korean Acad Oral Health. 45:64–70. DOI: 10.11149/jkaoh.2021.45.2.64.

16. Park JA, Han S, Jin BH, Exploration of the experience of caregivers for oral health care for the elderly in long-term care facilities: based on the grounded theory. 2022; J Korean Acad Oral Health. 46:228–235. DOI: 10.11149/jkaoh.2022.46.4.228.

17. Yoo SH, Kwak SH, Lee SH, Song GI, Bae SM, Shin SJ, Shin BM. 2018; Dental Hygienist-Led Dental Hygiene Process of Care for Self-Support Program Participants in Gangneung. J Kor Dent Hyg Sci. 18:327–339. DOI: 10.17135/jdhs.2018.18.6.327.

18. Qureshi HA, Ünlü Z. 2020; Beyond the paradigm conflicts: a four-step coding instrument for grounded theory. Int J Qual Methods. 19:1–10. DOI: 10.1177/1609406920928188.

19. Paymanfar S, Zamani B. 2022; A paradigm model of traditional iranian neighborhood(mahalleh): a grounded theory approach. Space Cult. 25:689–705. DOI: 10.1177/1206331219892529.

20. Ordinance on the Protection and Support of Essential Workers in Seoul. Ministry of Justice, National Legal Information Center, Seoul Ordinance No. 8404 [Internet]. Available from: https://url.kr/4a231t. cited 2023 Feb 19.

21. Kim SG. 2019; Safety and health of workers in special types of work 2. quick service articles_platform labour and occupational health. J Occup Health. 375:21–34.

22. Yoo HS, Yang MY, Song JH, Yoon JH, Lee WH, Jang JH, et al. 2024; Investigation of Working Conditions and Health Status in Platform Workers in the Republic of Korea. Saf Health Work. 15:17–23. DOI: 10.1016/j.shaw.2024.01.002. PMID: 38496284. PMCID: PMC10944155.

23. Sandelowski M. 1996; One is the liveliest number: the case orientation of qualitative research. Res Nurs Health. 19:525–529. DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-240X(199612)19:6<525::AID-NUR8>3.0.CO;2-Q. PMID: 8948406.

24. Hagaman AK, Wutich A. 2017; How many interviews are enough to identify metathemes in multisited and cross-cultural research? another perspective on guest, bunce, and johnson's (2006) landmark study. Field methods. 29:23–41. DOI: 10.1177/1525822X16640447.

25. Braun V, Clarke V. 2016; Conceptualising themes, thematic analysis, and other problems with Fugard and Potts'(2015) sample-size tool for thematic analysis. Int J Soc Res Methodol. 19:739–43. DOI: 10.1080/13645579.2016.1195588.

26. Lee JS, Lee MG, Yoon JH, Hwang SO. Strategies to Promote Specialized Worker Injury Prevention Initiatives - 6 Occupational Case Studies. Korea Labour & Society Institue;Soeul: 2021. p. 1–34.

27. Han BR, Choi SK. 2014. Korean public toilet improvement experience and its implications. Korea Ministry of Strategy and Finance;Sejong: p. 1–30.

28. Kim SY, Kang MJ. 2022; The spatiotemporal structure of platform workers' experiences and coping strategies. Korea Social Policy Review. 29:3–47.

29. Johnson CY, Fujishiro K. Identifying occupational health inequities in the absence of suitable data: are there inequities in access to adequate bathrooms in U.S. workplaces? medRxiv. 2023; DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.11.23289863. DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.11.23289863. PMID: 37669856.

30. Rutter S, Madden A, White L. 2023; Challenges of accessing hygiene facilities when on the move: an exploratory interview study with UK mobile workers. BMC Public Health. 23:1–13. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-17465-y. PMID: 38102613. PMCID: PMC10722722.

31. Hajra G, Dutta A. 2017; The gap between construction and usage of toilets: An under-identified problem. Arthaniti: J Econ Theory Pract. 16:1–26. DOI: 10.1177/0976747920170101.

32. THE CITY. Deliveristas, Food delivery workers could get relief from council bills to open restaurant restrooms and regulate apps [Internet]. Available from: https://url.kr/ako9l1. cited 2023 Feb 19.

33. MBC news. MBC news. News Desk, Why did a shop owner assault a delivery worker...for using the restroom? [Internet]. Available from: https://url.kr/d392ku. cited 2023 Feb 19.

34. Jang KA, Heo SE. 2022; The effect of social and psychological well-being index-short form on oral health behaviors in adults impact : focusing on the mediating effect of multidimensional fatigue scale. The Journal of Next-generation Convergence Technology Association. 6:1579–1588. DOI: 10.33097/JNCTA.2022.06.09.1579.

35. Lee SJ, Cho MS. 2004; Prevalence of low back pain and associated factors in selected courier drivers. Korean Journal of Hygiene Science. 10:65–72.

36. Apouey B, Roulet A, Solal I, Stabile M. 2020; Gig workers during the COVID-19 crisis in france: financial precarity and mental well-being. J Urban Health. 97:776–795. DOI: 10.1007/s11524-020-00480-4. PMID: 32964368. PMCID: PMC7508236.

37. Gim DS, Cho JJ, Yoon JL, Kim MY. 2022; The effect of working conditions on upper and lower extremity pain and sleep disturbance in delivery workers: the fifth korean working conditions survey. Korean J Fam Pract. 12:101–109. DOI: 10.21215/kjfp.2022.12.2.101.

38. Kim JH, Hwang MY. 2021; Working conditions for couriers and how to improve them. Policy Reports. 319:1–24.

39. Lee GH, Kim SW. 2017; Assessment of fine particulate matter exposure among courier service workers using GPS. J Korean Soc Occup Environ Hyg. 27:13–22.

40. Jang JH, Kang SW, Lee MK. 2020. A study on the working conditions of taxi workers and ways to improve them: focusing on long hours of driving and health. Federation of Korean Trade Unions(FKTU) Research Center;Soeul: p. 1–262.

41. Ha ES, Lee HR, Kim SY. 2023; How do young people working alone connect?: focusing on the case of young independent workers. Journal of Critical Social Welfare(JCSW). 7–55. DOI: 10.47042/ACSW.2023.2.78.7.

42. Kim JH, Lee SA, Jang HE. 2019. Labour control forms and workaholism on digital platforms. Korea Occupational Safety and Health Institute;Seoul: p. 1–72.

43. Park HH. 2020; Toilets for all, equality in toilets. Fem Theory. 63–77.

44. Lee CH. 2018; Toilet issues and human rights, including security guards. Journal of The Korean Society of Private Security. 17:113–136.

45. Seok HD, Yoon JH, Lee WH, Lee JH, Jung PG, Won JW, et al. 2014; The sleep health level of the designated driver. Occup Environ Med. 2014:385–356.

46. Kim SI. 2017. Analyzing factors influencing high school students' toothbrushing behavior through a quantitative and qualitative study[dissertations]. Gangneung Wonju University;Gangneung: [Korean].

47. Lim JY, Nam HS. 2021; Comparison of oral health status among adults with and without pre-bedtime brushing practices: using data from the 7th national health and nutrition examination survey. Journal of Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society. 22:379–386. DOI: 10.5762/KAIS.2021.22.10.379.

48. Labor and Health. Media, Labor and Health news, How did the platform economy achieve the 'toilet-free workplace'? [Internet]. Available from: https://url.kr/r9p31t. cited 2023 Feb 19.

49. Seongnam People. Labor/Health, Delivery workers 'elegant youth', "guarantee to use restrooms at gimpo B- mart!"[Internet]. Available from: http://www.snmedia.org/13461. cited 2023 Feb 19.

50. SBS news. YouTube, Rating time to go to the bathroom...’Yogiyo’ delivery drivers’ appeal [Internet]. Available from: https://url.kr/hqdv3z. cited 2023 Feb 19.

51. New York City (NYC) Consumer and Worker Protection. NYC Consumer and Worker Protection, Worker Rights, Food delivery worker laws: frequently asked questions [Internet]. Available from: https://url.kr/uvfoyk. cited 2023 Feb 19.

52. Basic Labor Welfare Law. National Legislation Information Center, Basic Labor and Welfare Law, Act No. 18926, Article 28 (Support for establishment of labor and welfare facilities, etc.) [Internet]. Available from: https://url.kr/tl2gow. cited 2023 Feb 19.

53. Lee CH. 2024. Mobile worker shelter operations, assessment, and activation challenges. Seoul Labor Center;Seoul: p. 1–16.

54. Kim JJ, Kim YY, Kim YH, Kim YY, Kim JH, No SC, et al. 2020. Research on labor conditions and policy issues on digital platforms in seoul. Korea Institute for Labor and Social Research;Seoul: p. 1–331.

55. Oh EJ, Moon JS, Choi YJ, Jang HY, Jang HW. Women’s job prospects as technology evolves and how to respond. Seoul: Korean Women’s Development Institute;2018. p. 1–536.