Lalloo D, Lewsey J, Katikireddi S V, Macdonald E B, Demou E
Healthy Working Lives Group, Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Health Economics and Health Technology Assessment, Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Occup Med (Lond). 2021 Apr 9;71(2):68-74. doi: 10.1093/occmed/kqaa222.
Information technology (IT) and the IT workforce are rapidly expanding with potential occupational health implications. But to date, IT worker health is under-studied and large-scale studies are lacking.
To investigate health, lifestyle and occupational risk factors of IT workers.
We evaluated self-reported health, lifestyle and occupational risk factors for IT workers in the UK Biobank database. Using logistic regression, we investigated differences between IT workers and all other employed participants. Regression models were repeated for IT worker subgroups (managers, professionals, technicians) and their respective counterparts within the same Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) major group (functional managers, science and technology professionals, science and technology associate professionals).
Overall, 10 931 (4%) employed participants were IT workers. Compared to all other employed participants, IT workers reported similar overall health, but lower lifestyle risk factors for smoking and obesity. Sedentary work was a substantially higher occupational exposure risk for IT workers compared to all other employed participants (odds ratio [OR] = 5.14, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.91-5.39) and their specific SOC group counterparts (managers: OR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.68-1.99, professionals: OR = 7.18, 95% CI: 6.58-7.82, technicians: OR = 4.48, 95% CI: 3.87-5.17). IT workers were also more likely to engage in computer screen-time outside work than all other employed participants (OR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.35-1.51).
Improved understanding of health, lifestyle and occupational risk factors from this, the largest to date study of IT worker health, can help inform workplace interventions to mitigate risk, improve health and increase the work participation of this increasingly important and rapidly growing occupational group.
信息技术（IT）及其从业人员队伍正在迅速壮大，可能对职业健康产生影响。但迄今为止，对IT从业人员健康状况的研究不足，且缺乏大规模研究。
调查IT从业人员的健康、生活方式和职业风险因素。
我们在英国生物银行数据库中评估了IT从业人员自我报告的健康、生活方式和职业风险因素。使用逻辑回归分析，我们研究了IT从业人员与所有其他就业参与者之间的差异。针对IT从业人员亚组（经理、专业人员、技术人员）及其在相同标准职业分类（SOC）主要组内的相应对照（职能经理、科技专业人员、科技助理专业人员）重复进行回归模型分析。
总体而言，10931名（4%）就业参与者为IT从业人员。与所有其他就业参与者相比，IT从业人员报告的总体健康状况相似，但吸烟和肥胖等生活方式风险因素较低。与所有其他就业参与者相比，久坐工作对IT从业人员来说是一个更高的职业暴露风险（优势比[OR]=5.14，95%置信区间[CI]：4.91-5.39），与他们在特定SOC组内的相应对照相比也是如此（经理：OR=1.83，95%CI：1.68-1.99；专业人员：OR=7.18，95%CI：6.58-7.82；技术人员：OR=4.48，95%CI：3.87-5.17）。与所有其他就业参与者相比，IT从业人员在工作之余使用电脑屏幕的时间也更长（OR=1.42，95%CI：1.35-1.51）。
这项迄今为止规模最大的IT从业人员健康研究，增进了我们对其健康、生活方式和职业风险因素的了解，有助于为职场干预措施提供参考，以降低风险、改善健康状况，并提高这个日益重要且迅速壮大的职业群体的工作参与度。
