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Full‐time workers with precarious employment face lower protection for receiving annual health check‐ups
Author(s) -
Inoue Mariko,
Tsurugano Shinobu,
Nishikitani Mariko,
Yano Eiji
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.22090
Subject(s) - medicine , occupational safety and health , health worker , demography , environmental health , health services , population , pathology , sociology
Abstract Background Precarious employment is one of the social determinants of health. In 2010, 34.4% of Japanese workers fell into this employment category. The purpose of our study was to assess whether the use of annual health check‐ups varied by worker contract type. Methods Using 2007 nationally representative survey data, we compared the annual health check‐up compliance of permanently employed full‐time workers versus that of precariously employed workers (hourly, dispatched, and fixed‐term workers). Results Dispatched workers and hourly workers received health check‐ups less often compared with permanent workers. Hourly young male workers received health check‐ups five times less frequently than permanent workers. The percentage of workers who consulted a physician after receiving advice to do so did not differ by employment types, except in older men. Conclusions In Japan, workers with precarious employment, most notably hourly and dispatched workers, had a lower rate of health check‐ups compared with full‐time workers in permanent positions. Am. J. Ind. Med. 55:884–892, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.