Background Discrimination is associated with depressive symptoms and other negative health effects, but little is known about the mental health risks of workplace gender discrimination. We aimed to investigate the association of workplace gender discrimination and depressive symptoms among employed women in South Korea. Methods The 6 th wave (2016) survey datasets of the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Family (KLoWF) were analyzed for 2,339 respondents who are identified as wage workers. Depressive symptoms were evaluated by the short-form (10-item) Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale. Association of workplace gender discrimination and depressive symptoms was assessed using multivariate logistic regression, adjusted for potential confounding variables including age, income satisfaction, education level, marital status, and currently diagnosed disease. We then measured the age effect using age stratification multivariate logistic regression model. Results Women who experienced gender discrimination at workplace had higher odds of depressive symptoms regardless of the type of the discrimination including hiring, promotion, work assignments, paid wages, and firing. These associations were consistent in younger women below 40 years of age in regard to hiring, promotion, paid wages and firing, whereas inconsistent among older women above 40 years of age. Limitations We did not investigate the effect of workplace gender discrimination on depressive symptoms in a longitudinal manner. Conclusions Workplace gender discrimination was found to be significantly associated with depressive symptoms after adjustment for socio-demographic factors. Further, women under 40 years of age were especially vulnerable to workplace gender discrimination.

INTRODUCTION:Despite the overall association of aspirin on reduced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk, there have been few studies on its benefit according to specific clinical conditions among hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected patients. This study aimed to identify subgroups which benefit from long-term aspirin use.METHODS:Nationwide data covering the HBV-infected population in the Republic of Korea from 2010 to 2011 were analyzed. Patients who had been taking Aspirin for ≥3 years were classified as aspirin users. The primary outcome was HCC development. The multivariable Fine and Gray competing risk regression model was used to estimate the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) in the entire cohort. Propensity score matching at a 1:4 ratio was also performed.RESULTS:Among 161,673 patients, 7,083 newly developed HCC during follow-up (mean: 7.5 years). After adjusting for age, sex, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, cirrhosis, antivirals, metformin, statin, smoking, alcohol consumption, and obesity, aspirin users (n = 9,837) were less likely to develop HCC; the adjusted HR was 0.84 (P = 0.002) in the entire cohort and 0.87 (P = 0.010) in the matched cohort. Association of aspirin use with all-cause mortality was not significant (HR = 0.93; P = 0.192), whereas association with liver-related mortality was significant (HR = 0.79; P = 0.019). A significant association was observed in the subgroups with cirrhosis, both sexes, hypertension, non–diabetes mellitus, nonantivirals against chronic hepatitis B, nonmetformin use, nonstatin use, both smoking histories, and obesity (all P < 0.05).DISCUSSION:Long-term aspirin use is significantly associated with reduced risk of HCC in chronic HBV patients. More comprehensive studies should be implemented to clarify the causal relationship.

Background:The association between metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lacks clinical validation in atrisk populations. We assessed this relationship among chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients.Methods: Data was collected from the National Health Insurance System database in South Korea. Chronic hepatitis B patients aged over 40 years receiving health examinations between 2011 and 2012 were recruited. The primary outcome was HCC. Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease was defined as hepatic steatosis in combination with at least one of the following: (i) overweight, (ii) diabetes, or (iii) lean/normal weight with two or more metabolic components. Multivariable Cox regression analysis was used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs).

Objectives: Previous studies mostly focused on the relationship between chronic environmental noise exposure and hypertension but the effects of subacute (under 4 years) exposure with severe (>85 dB) noise exposure on clinical level hypertension have not been explored. This study aimed to reveal the association between severe noise exposure and hypertension. Methods: The severe noise exposure group was recruited from a Common Data Model conducted for the Korean Participants Health Examination from January 2014 to December 2017. The use of antihypertensive drug and/or blood pressure of at least 140/90 mmHg was defined as new onset clinical hypertension. A multivariate Cox proportional hazard model was implemented to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) by adjusting covariates including demographic, lifestyle, and other chemical exposure factors. Time-dependent Cox analysis and Landmark analysis were further performed as a sensitivity analysis. Results: During the 29 332 person-years follow-up with 12 412 participants of the entire cohort, new onset hypertension occurred in 1222 participants. The findings showed that severe noise exposure was associated with an increased risk of hypertension incidence in the entire cohort [final model hazard ratio 1.28 (95% CI 1.11–1.47)]. Other covariates did not attenuate the association after adjusting age and sex. Time-dependent Cox and Landmark analysis also showed significant results [hazard ratio 1.60 (95% CI 1.38–1.85) and hazard ratio 1.33 (95% CI 1.13–1.57)]. Conclusion: Severe noise with subacute exposure is significantly associated with hypertension development. Further studies should be implemented to clarify whether severe exposure to noise could be an important risk factor for hypertension.

Due to social distancing during COVID-19, teleworking has spread in Korea. Accordingly, the effects of teleworking on physical and mental health have emerged. We aim to determine the association between teleworking and mental health, including anxiety symptoms and sleep disturbance, in paid workers. The data of paid workers from the Sixth Korean Working Conditions Survey, collected between October 2020 and April 2021, were analyzed. Gender stratification analysis and propensity score matching were performed for variables relevant to sociodemographic and occupational characteristics. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each sex were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression, adjusting for sociodemographic and occupational characteristics. Among 28,633 participants, analyses were performed for anxiety symptoms (teleworkers vs. non-teleworkers; men: 12.1% vs. 4.9%; women: 13.5% vs. 5.3%) and sleep disturbance (men: 33.6% vs. 21.3%; women: 39.7% vs. 25.3%). In male teleworkers, the AORs for anxiety symptoms and sleep disturbance were 1.86 (95% CI: 1.14–3.04) and 1.52 (95% CI: 1.10–2.11), respectively. In female teleworkers, the AORs for anxiety symptoms and sleep disturbance were 1.66 (95% CI: 1.13–2.43) and 1.65 (95% CI: 1.28–2.14), respectively. Our results emphasize the importance of mental health and the need for continuous education and care for teleworkers, given the rapid increase in teleworking.