Factors increasing the risk for psychosocial stress among Korean adults living in rural areas: using generalized estimating equations and mixed models

• Published in: Annals of occupational and environmental medicine 2017, 29(4), , pp.1-12
• Main Authors: Nam, Ju-Hyun, Lim, Myeong-Seob, Choi, Hyun-Kyeong, Kim, Jae-Yeop, Kim, Sung-Kyeong, Oh, Sung-Soo, Koh, Sang-Baek, Kang, Hee-Tae
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adults; ARIRANG cohort; Behavior; Causes of; Evaluation; Exercise; Health aspects; Health status indicators; Lifestyles; Management; Mathematical models; Mental depression; Occupations; Physical fitness; Population-based study; Psychological aspects; Quality of life; Risk factors; Rural areas; Rural health; Sedentary time; Sleep duration; Social interactions; Stress; Stress (Psychology); Studies; Variables; Womens health; Young adults; 예방의학
• ISSN: 2052-4374; 2052-4374
• DOI: 10.1186/s40557-017-0209-5

This study was conducted to analyze the distribution of the psychosocial well-being index among adults living in two rural communities in Korea and to examine its correlation with lifestyle variables such as sleep duration, regular exercise, and sedentary time. Using the cohort data of the Atherosclerosis Risk of a Rural Area Korean General Population, this study examined 3631 participants living in Wonju and Pyeongchang in Gangwon Province; their preliminary data were established from 2005 to 2007 while their follow-up data were collected 3 years later. This study investigated demographic characteristics, lifestyle habits, disease history, Psychosocial Well-being Index-Short Form (PWI-SF) scores, sleep duration, regular exercise, and sedentary time during work. Using repeated measures ANOVA, this study examined how the variables and PWI-SF scores changed over the course of 3 years and identified the correlation between them based on mixed model analysis. Afterwards, using the generalized estimation equation, this study identified each variable's risk towards the PWI-SF high-risk group and performed a stratified analysis by occupation after dividing the participants into farmers and non-farmers. The PWI-SF high-risk group was found to be 18.9% of the participants from preliminary data and 15.5% from follow-up data. The odds ratio towards the PWI-SF high-risk group was 1.503 (95% CI 1.241-1.821) in the short sleep duration group and 1.327 (95% CI 1.136-1.550) in the non-regular exercise group. A stratified analysis by occupation showed that middle and long sedentary time in the white-collar group increased the risk toward the PWI-SF high-risk group. Short sleep duration, no regular exercise, and long sedentary time in the white-collar group were identified as risk factors toward the PWI-SF high-risk group in the rural communities, and policy interventions are needed to address this issue.