Job-stress and medical consultation rates for physical illness among blue collar workers of an electrical factory in Japan: a four-year prospective follow-up study

To investigate the relationship between job-stress and medical consultation rates for physical illness, a prospective study was conducted for male blue workers of an electrical factory in Japan. 8 job-stress variables and 8 possible confounders were assessed by means of mailed questionnaires in the initial study; 375 workers without medical history of illness were followed for four years; they were interviewed once a year and medical consultations for physical illness were recorded. Age-adjusted rates of medical consultation during the four-year period were significantly higher in the subjects with higher job-dissatisfaction scores than in those with lower job-dissatisfaction scores (p less than 0.05). The results of the multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that job-dissatisfaction together with age and education was significantly correlated with medical consultation (p less than 0.05). The results suggest that job-dissatisfaction is a potential factor for medical consultation in Japanese blue collar workers.