| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立台北護理學院 === 醫護管理研究所 === 97 === Abstract
Purposes:
This study aims to explore the prevalence of musculoskeletal discomfort and sleep disorder, and the work-related quality of life (QOL) scores among hotel room attendants. The purposes of this study also include the investigations of work characteristics in relation to musculoskeletal discomfort (MSD), sleep disorder, and work-related QOL; as well as the investigation of associations of MSD with both sleep disorder and work-related QOL.
Study subjects:
Between July and December, 2008, a convenient sample of a total of 495 room attendants from 30 restaurants and hotels, posted by the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry, were visited and solicited to complete a questionnaire. All study participants were the room attendants in duty at the time of visit.
Methods:
The study used a cross-sectional research design. We used a structured questionnaire to collect personal characteristics and the information on sleep disorders. The modified Nordic Musculoskeletal Disorders questionnaire and the WHOQOL-BRIEF Taiwan version questionnaire were also used to assess study participant’s MSD and work-related QOL (the score for individual domain ranged from 5 to 20 while the overall QOL score was in a range of 20-80, a higher score is indicative of a higher QOL), respectively. We first calculated the body part-specific prevalence of MSD and sleep disorder, and the mean work-related QOL and their 95% confidence intervals. We then used logistic regression model to analyze (1) the associations of work characteristics with MSD and sleep disorder, and (2) the relationship between MSD and sleep disorder. The general linear regression model was employed to analyze (1) the relationship between work characteristics and work-related QOL, and (2) the association of MSD with work-related QOL. We used SPSS 16.0 for the analyses, and the statistical significance level was set at α=0.05.
Result:
1. The results showed that the body parts with severer self-assessed discomfort included shoulder (47.9%), waist (46.3%) and neck (38.6%). It also revealed that the rate of difficulty in initiating sleep (DIS) was 54.2%, the rate of difficulty in maintaining sleep (DMS) was 45.5%, and the rate of early morning awaking (EMA) was estimated at 50.1%. Additionally, the QOL score for the physiological, psychological, social, environmental domains, as well as for the overall QOL were 15.02.1, 13.82.6, 14.12.1, 13.72.4 and 56.67.7 respectively.
2. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that “monthly work hours” was significantly associated with MSD at neck, upper back, and elbow, and it was also significantly associated with both environmental domain QOL and odds of DIS. In addition, “length of life-time employment” was significantly associated with leg and ankle discomfort, and it was also significantly associated with the QOL score of social domain. Moreover, “taking a break during work” was significantly and positively associated with physiological domain QOL, while “doing housework after work” was significantly and positively associated with upper arm discomfort.
3. The attendants with neck discomfort were associated with a significantly higher risk for DIS (odds ratio (OR)=2.24) and EMA (OR=2.01). Waist (OR=1.58) and ankle/foot (OR=1.96) discomfort were both significantly associated with a higher odds of DIS. On the other hand, the thigh discomfort was associated with a significantly reduced OR (0.45) of DIS, and the subjects with upper arm discomfort had significantly reduced OR of EMA (OR=0.49).
4. The study participants with neck, waist, or ankle/foot discomfort all had significantly lower overall QOL with a magnitude of 2.30, 1.51, and 2.43 points. Additionally, the study participants with neck discomfort also had significantly lower QOL scores for the physiological (0.74 points), psychological (0.80 points), and environmental (0.61 points) domains. The waist discomfort was also observed to be associated with a significantly lower QOL score for the physiological (0.50 points) and psychological (0.56 points) domains. Moreover, the ankle discomfort was significantly associated with a reduced QOL score for physiological, psychological, and social domains with a magnitude of 0.61, 0.73, and 0.65 points, respectively.
Conclusion:
Compared to figures for other workers, data of this study indicated a higher prevalence of MSD in restaurant/hotel room attendants in Taiwan, and such elevated prevalence of MSD at some body parts was found to be positively associated with sleep disorder, and was negatively and significantly related to work-related QOL (especially physiological and psychological domains), suggesting that the restaurant / hotel industry or the occupational health authority should pay more attention to the MSD problem in those room attendants. Through appropriate arrangement of working hours and provision of adequate rest, it can effectively reduce the occurrence of MSD. Because the room attendants reported a lower psychological and environmental QOL scores, future research should also be carried out to investigate the potential influences of work environment and psychological well-being on the health of room attendants in order to enhance the their overall work-related QOL.
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