Analysis of Stress in an Aboriginal Population in Taiwan: A Prospective Cross-sectional Study

台灣某原住民族群以農夫為職業者的壓力探討

曹又中(Yu-Chung Tsao) ； 何芝儀(Chih-I Ho) ； 林忠順(Tiing-Soon Ling) ； 陳昭源(Jau-Yuan Chen) ； 蔡依紋(Yi-Wen Tsai) ； 張可臻(Ko-Chen Chang) ； 張詩鑫(Shy-Shin Chang)

《中華職業醫學雜誌》 19卷3期 (2012/07) Pp. 171-180

https://doi.org/10.30027/CJOM.201207.0005

摘要

Objective: To analyze the stress level of aboriginal farmers in a mountainous area in Taiwan using dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) level, a biomarker of psychosocial stress.Methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study, participants were 268 aboriginal residents of many occupations. Socio-demographic characteristics and biochemical variants were compared between Farmers (n=128) and Non-farmers (n=140) by using nonparametric tests. Correlation and multinomial linear regression analyses were conducted to examine whether and to what extent the variables affected the level of DHEA-S.Results: Aboriginal farmers were older, more likely to be male, and had lower DHEA-S levels than non-farmers (p=0.001).Multinomial linear regression analyses confirmed that DHEA-S was negatively associated with age, occupation (farmer), and gender (female).Conclusions: Aboriginal farmers experienced higher psychosocial stresses than those in other occupations. This study may help concerned authorities to recognize this condition and consider possible solutions to relieve the stress on aboriginal farmers. This is a novel study that focuses on the stress level of a specific occupation in a specific ethnic group.

並列摘要

Objective: To analyze the stress level of aboriginal farmers in a mountainous area in Taiwan using dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) level, a biomarker of psychosocial stress.Methods: In this prospective cross-sectional study, participants were 268 aboriginal residents of many occupations. Socio-demographic characteristics and biochemical variants were compared between Farmers (n=128) and Non-farmers (n=140) by using nonparametric tests. Correlation and multinomial linear regression analyses were conducted to examine whether and to what extent the variables affected the level of DHEA-S.Results: Aboriginal farmers were older, more likely to be male, and had lower DHEA-S levels than non-farmers (p=0.001).Multinomial linear regression analyses confirmed that DHEA-S was negatively associated with age, occupation (farmer), and gender (female).Conclusions: Aboriginal farmers experienced higher psychosocial stresses than those in other occupations. This study may help concerned authorities to recognize this condition and consider possible solutions to relieve the stress on aboriginal farmers. This is a novel study that focuses on the stress level of a specific occupation in a specific ethnic group.

並列關鍵字

occupational stress ； farmer ； aborigine ； dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate ； Taiwan