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. 2020 Oct;62(10):e559-e566.
doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000001981.

Precarious Employment as Compared With Unemployment Reduces the Risk of Depression in the Elderly in Korea

Sungjin Park  1 , Mo-Yeol Kang, June-Hee Lee
Affiliations

Precarious Employment as Compared With Unemployment Reduces the Risk of Depression in the Elderly in Korea

Sungjin Park et al. J Occup Environ Med. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: To compare how depression develops in precarious employment and in unemployment, as how precarious jobs impact unemployment-related depression is relatively unknown.

Methods: Using the 1st to 4th Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging survey data, 5638 older people were analyzed to measure depression incidence in relation to employment status. A Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale form was chosen to identify depression. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were derived from Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for a number of variables.

Results: Unemployment-related depression risk was significantly higher than for precarious employment. Depression risk was significantly lower for male full-time permanent workers than precarious workers, but was not significantly different in women.

Conclusions: To prevent the deterioration of mental health in the elderly, an extensive job promotion campaign including precarious work is required.

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