Association between overtime work hours and preventive dental visits among Japanese workers

Abstract

Background This study aimed to examine the association between overtime work and the frequency of preventive dental visits among workers in Japan. Methods A self-administered questionnaire was completed by 14,847 daytime-workers. We used a logistic regression model stratified by sex and age and adjusted for marital status, occupation, education, and oral status to investigate the association between overtime work hours and the frequency of preventive dental visits. Results In total 1037 men (9.3%) and 511 women (13.9%) attended quarterly preventive dental visits, and 2672 men (23.9%) and 1165 women (31.8%) attended annual preventive dental visits. Overtime work was statistically significantly associated with quarterly preventive dental visits among men aged 50–59 years, with adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of 0.73 (0.56–0.95), 0.75 (0.54–1.04), and 0.55 (0.34–0.90) for < 20, 20–39, and ≥40 h overtime/month, respectively. No such trends were observed for men aged < 50 years and women of all ages. Overtime work of < 20, 20–40, and ≥40 h overtime/month was statistically significantly associated with annual preventive dental visits among men aged 40–49 years (aOR [95%CI]: 0.76 [0.61–0.95], 0.84 [0.65–1.09], and 0.72 [0.51–1.00], respectively) and 50–59 years (aOR [95%CI]: 0.75 [0.61–0.91], 0.76 [0.59–0.97], and 0.63 [0.45–0.88], respectively). No such trends were observed in men < 40 years and women of all ages. Conclusions Our study revealed associations between overtime and preventive dental visits among male workers aged in their 40s and 50s.

A cross-sectional study of socioeconomic status and treatment interruption among Japanese workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Our findings also suggest that increased commute times and overtime work may reduce workers' free time and hinder them from seeking medical attention, which is consistent with the findings of a previous study. 23,24 Treatment discontinuation is a health disparity caused by COVID-19 and is an emerging public health issue. This study shows the relationship between socioeconomic status and treatment discontinuation in terms of health disparities.…”

Association of overtime work duration with oral health-related quality of life in Japanese workers

“…Several mechanisms can explain the potential relationship between overtime work and OHRQoL. Longer overtime hours may reduce preventive dental visits, increase the risk of dental diseases [12], and hinder dental visits for treatment. However, in the present analysis, OHRQoL was lower among those who had regular dental check-ups at least once a year.…”

“…Recently, even in dentistry, overtime work has been identified as a risk factor for increased morbidity due to dental diseases, such as caries and periodontitis [4,11]. Overtime work has been found to be associated with frequency of dental visits [12]. However, the relationship between Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) and overtime work has not been examined.…”

Public oral health screening leads to regular dental visits: the LIFE Study

“…Enrollees included self-employed or part-time workers, retirees, and their dependents. Considering that full-time workers have to work for state-related reasons for not visiting dentists 28,29 , such as they cannot spare enough time on weekdays, caution is needed when generalizing our results to other populations 30 . Third, this study was based on municipal data.…”