Safety and Health at Work Vol. 12 Issue 4 2021
The Association Between Long Working Hours and Infertility (Original article)
Dublin Core
Title
Safety and Health at Work Vol. 12 Issue 4 2021
The Association Between Long Working Hours and Infertility (Original article)
The Association Between Long Working Hours and Infertility (Original article)
Subject
Infertility, Women, working, Republic of Korea, Women
Description
Background: This study aimed to investigate whether working long hours was related to infertility among female Korean workers, while taking age into consideration.
Methods: We used data from the 2018 National Survey on Fertility and Family Health and Welfare in Korea that is a cross-sectional, nationally representative, and population-based survey. Infertility was defined as women who were not pregnant after regular unprotected intercourse for a year. Working long hours was classified as 52 hours, and subgroups as per age were classified on the basis of being younger or older than 40 years of age. Differences in infertility risk between the long working hour group and none were estimated in crude and fully adjusted logistic regression models with age-group stratification.
Results: Of 5,909 Korean female workers, the crude and adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of infertility for working long hours were 1.295 (0.948-1.737) and 1.303 (0.921-1.809), respectively. In the subgroup of patients below 40 years of age, the crude and adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) were 1.957 (1.216-3.039) and 1.921 (1.144-3.120), whereas those aged 40 years or older had 0.994 (0.647-1.471) and 0.939 (0.560-1.501), respectively. The weighted prevalence of infertility increased as weekly working hours increased only for the younger than 40-year subgroup.
Conclusions: Infertility is associated with working long hours, especially in young-aged workers. Thus, the working schedule must be structured to better suit young female workers.
Methods: We used data from the 2018 National Survey on Fertility and Family Health and Welfare in Korea that is a cross-sectional, nationally representative, and population-based survey. Infertility was defined as women who were not pregnant after regular unprotected intercourse for a year. Working long hours was classified as 52 hours, and subgroups as per age were classified on the basis of being younger or older than 40 years of age. Differences in infertility risk between the long working hour group and none were estimated in crude and fully adjusted logistic regression models with age-group stratification.
Results: Of 5,909 Korean female workers, the crude and adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of infertility for working long hours were 1.295 (0.948-1.737) and 1.303 (0.921-1.809), respectively. In the subgroup of patients below 40 years of age, the crude and adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) were 1.957 (1.216-3.039) and 1.921 (1.144-3.120), whereas those aged 40 years or older had 0.994 (0.647-1.471) and 0.939 (0.560-1.501), respectively. The weighted prevalence of infertility increased as weekly working hours increased only for the younger than 40-year subgroup.
Conclusions: Infertility is associated with working long hours, especially in young-aged workers. Thus, the working schedule must be structured to better suit young female workers.
Creator
Joonho Ahn, Sang Ha Lee, Min Young Park, Soo Hyun Oh , Wanhyung Lee
Publisher
Elsevier Korea LLC
Date
December 2021
Contributor
Sri Wahyuni
Format
PDF
Language
English
Type
Text
Coverage
Safety and Health at Work Vol. 12 Issue 4 2021
Files
Citation
Joonho Ahn, Sang Ha Lee, Min Young Park, Soo Hyun Oh , Wanhyung Lee, “Safety and Health at Work Vol. 12 Issue 4 2021
The Association Between Long Working Hours and Infertility (Original article),” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed April 26, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/2231.
The Association Between Long Working Hours and Infertility (Original article),” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed April 26, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/2231.