Social stressors and social resources at work and their association with self-reported health complaints among ready-made garment workers in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study.

Item request has been placed! ×
Item request cannot be made. ×
loading   Processing Request
  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: BioMed Central Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 100968562 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1471-2458 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14712458 NLM ISO Abbreviation: BMC Public Health Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Original Publication: London : BioMed Central, [2001-
    • Subject Terms:
    • Abstract:
      Background: Bangladesh is one of the world's largest garment exporters. Physical working conditions of garment workers are precarious and known to largely affect their health. Research on garment workers' psychosocial working conditions, however, is scarce. We aimed to quantify psychosocial working conditions of garment workers and possible associations with workers' health.
      Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 1,118 ready-made garment (RMG) workers in labor colonies in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in February 2021. Descriptive analyses were performed to characterize social stressors (e.g., being bullied at work, poor leadership) and social resources at work (e.g., receiving support at work, vertical trust between management and employees, beneficial leadership) and workers' health (self-reported overall health and 10 specific health complaints). To examine links of social stressors and social resources with self-reported health outcomes we ran multivariable Poisson regression models yielding prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).
      Results: We found low to moderate levels of workplace bullying and high levels of poor leadership (i.e., supervisors not caring about workers' problems). We also found high levels of social support, vertical trust and beneficial leadership (i.e., supervisors taking decisions free of bias). Garment workers frequently suffered from health complaints, first and foremost headache (68.3%), cold (55.3%), and back pain (50.7%). Health outcomes were poorer among workers who reported to be bullied at work versus not bullied (e.g., PR 1.55 [95% CI 1.32-1.92] for poor self-reported health when bullied by colleagues) and health was better among those reporting to feel supported versus unsupported (e.g., PR 0.61 [0.52-0.71] for poor self-reported health when supported by supervisor). Perceived vertical trust between workers and management was weakly associated with better health. Leadership behavior did not display a consistent pattern.
      Conclusions: Our findings suggest that working conditions of RMG workers are rather good (e.g., characterized by low levels of bullying and high levels of support, vertical trust and beneficial leadership). The majority of workers reported good or very good health, although health complaints were frequently mentioned, first and foremost headache, cold, and back pain. Associations between psychosocial working conditions and health indicate worse working conditions being associated with poorer health.
      (© 2022. The Author(s).)
    • References:
      Int J Behav Med. 2014;21(5):750-6. (PMID: 24072350)
      Soc Sci Med. 2019 Aug;235:112383. (PMID: 31260817)
      Indian J Cancer. 2021 Jul-Sep;58(3):402-408. (PMID: 33402582)
      Saf Health Work. 2020 Jun;11(2):199-206. (PMID: 32596016)
      J Family Med Prim Care. 2021 Feb;10(2):917-921. (PMID: 34041098)
      Sleep Med. 2020 May;69:179-188. (PMID: 32109840)
      BMJ Open. 2016 Apr 25;6(4):e009440. (PMID: 27113233)
      Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2014 Jan;87(1):85-93. (PMID: 23266905)
      PLoS One. 2018 Jul 6;13(7):e0200122. (PMID: 29979734)
      J Nurs Manag. 2019 Jul;27(5):1020-1029. (PMID: 30848036)
      Am J Public Health. 1988 Oct;78(10):1336-42. (PMID: 3421392)
      Health Place. 2013 Nov;24:123-30. (PMID: 24095949)
      Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2013 Apr;86(3):271-9. (PMID: 22456979)
      Scand J Public Health. 2010 Feb;38(3 Suppl):90-105. (PMID: 21172775)
      BMC Public Health. 2012 Jul 23;12:534. (PMID: 22824415)
      BMC Int Health Hum Rights. 2019 Jan 21;19(1):2. (PMID: 30665456)
      Occup Med Health Aff. 2018;6(4):. (PMID: 30637268)
      Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2018 Jul;91(5):643-654. (PMID: 29691658)
      Occup Environ Med. 2019 Jul;76(7):455-461. (PMID: 31055470)
      Scand J Public Health. 2010 Feb;38(3 Suppl):25-32. (PMID: 21172768)
      Occup Environ Med. 2012 Oct;69(10):694-700. (PMID: 22693265)
      Pac Health Dialog. 2006 Sep;13(2):65-70. (PMID: 18181392)
      Perspect Psychiatr Care. 2021 Jan;57(1):27-32. (PMID: 32302019)
      Eur J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2016 Dec;15(7):504-512. (PMID: 26531054)
      Occup Environ Med. 2017 Mar;74(4):301-310. (PMID: 28108676)
      J Occup Health Psychol. 1996 Jan;1(1):27-41. (PMID: 9547031)
      Work. 2018;60(1):85-94. (PMID: 29843296)
      J Occup Environ Med. 2020 Sep;62(9):728-737. (PMID: 32890212)
      J Occup Environ Med. 2019 Dec;61(12):e480-e485. (PMID: 31651598)
      Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2020 Jul;93(5):611-622. (PMID: 31932956)
      J Adv Nurs. 2013 Nov;69(11):2560-71. (PMID: 23551132)
      Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2020 Aug;55(8):1021-1029. (PMID: 31893288)
      PLoS One. 2014 Sep 05;9(9):e106956. (PMID: 25191745)
      BMC Public Health. 2021 May 10;21(1):890. (PMID: 33971850)
      Appl Occup Environ Hyg. 2000 Mar;15(3):313-20. (PMID: 10701294)
      Scand J Work Environ Health. 2016 Jan;42(1):17-25. (PMID: 26645744)
      J Occup Health. 2021 Jan;63(1):e12256. (PMID: 34382289)
      Rev Saude Publica. 2012 Jun;46(3):407-16. (PMID: 22450562)
      Int J Womens Health. 2017 Aug 16;9:571-579. (PMID: 28860866)
      Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2018 Jun;64(4):351-358. (PMID: 29517393)
      J Adv Nurs. 2019 Dec;75(12):3195-3209. (PMID: 30816567)
      Eur J Public Health. 2013 Jun;23(3):415-20. (PMID: 22683769)
      J Occup Health Psychol. 2018 Oct;23(4):553-567. (PMID: 29504778)
      J Public Health (Oxf). 2021 Apr 12;43(1):47-52. (PMID: 32734293)
      CMAJ. 2012 May 15;184(8):895-9. (PMID: 22158397)
      Int J Rheum Dis. 2018 Dec;21(12):2063-2070. (PMID: 30398010)
      Scand J Work Environ Health. 2010 Sep;36(5):357-65. (PMID: 20352174)
      Womens Health (Lond). 2019 Jan-Dec;15:1745506519891302. (PMID: 31856698)
      Sleep Med Rev. 2020 Jun;51:101289. (PMID: 32179375)
      J Epidemiol Community Health. 2007 May;61(5):427-33. (PMID: 17435210)
      SSM Popul Health. 2017 Apr 09;3:393-402. (PMID: 29349232)
      Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2017 May;63(3):244-254. (PMID: 28466750)
      J Health Soc Behav. 2008 Jun;49(2):208-22. (PMID: 18649503)
      PLoS One. 2017 Jan 20;12(1):e0169721. (PMID: 28107371)
      BMC Public Health. 2016 Jul 26;16:640. (PMID: 27460934)
      World J Surg. 2016 Nov;40(11):2560-2566. (PMID: 27624759)
      Pol Arch Intern Med. 2021 Oct 27;131(10):. (PMID: 34664492)
      Soc Sci Med. 2018 Jan;196:150-157. (PMID: 29182963)
    • Contributed Indexing:
      Keywords: Bangladesh; Cross-sectional study; Employee health; Poisson regression; Ready-made garment workers; Self-reported health; Working conditions
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20220921 Date Completed: 20220923 Latest Revision: 20221013
    • Publication Date:
      20240105
    • Accession Number:
      PMC9492303
    • Accession Number:
      10.1186/s12889-022-14173-x
    • Accession Number:
      36131265