Original scientific paper
Interindividual differences in shift workers' features and subjective health complaints
Lj. Kaliterna
; Institut za medicinska istraživanja i medicinu rada, Zagreb, Hrvatska
S. Vidaček
; Institut za medicinska istraživanja i medicinu rada, Zagreb, Hrvatska
B. Radošević-Vidaček
; Institut za medicinska istraživanja i medicinu rada, Zagreb, Hrvatska
M. Ravlić
; INA Rafinerija nafte Rijeka, Rijeka, Hrvatska
V. Lalić
; INA Rafinerija nafte Rijeka, Rijeka, Hrvatska
Z. Prizmić
; Institut za medicinska istraživanja i medicinu rada, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
A total of 604 experienced shift workers were administered a battery of questionnaires in order to examine the relationships between the shift workers' features and subjective health complaints taken as signs of intolerance to shift work. The individual difference measures included: hard-driving and competitiveness, speed and impatience, relaxedness, efficiency, flexibility of behaviour, eveningness, rigidity of sleeping habits, vigorousness, languidness, inveterateness, flexibility of habits, ne neuroticism, extraversion, lie-scale, age and work experience. The subjective health complaints included: generally poor health, musculo-skeletal, respiratory and psychosomatic-digestive complaints, and digestive problems. Correlation and multiple regression analyses showed that in workers some personality features and patterns of behaviour were related to the subjective health complaints. More health complaints were placed by workers who were emotionally unstable, less relaxed, inefficient, rigid (e.g. unable to control the behavioral arousal level), hard-driving and competitive, speedy and impatient (A-types), rigid in sleeping and other life habits, languid, older and with longer shift work experience.
Keywords
circadian rhythm; questionnaire factor analysis; tolerance to shift work; shift work; influence of age
Hrčak ID:
148235
URI
Publication date:
2.9.1992.
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