Work-related factors associated with visiting a doctor for a medical diagnosis after a worksite screening for diabetes mellitus in Japanese male employees

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the work-related factors that affect whether Japanese male employees will seek a medical diagnosis after being screened for diabetes mellitus. Participants in this study received a questionnaire two months after receiving the results of their physical checkup. The analysis focused on 213 regular employees of small and medium-sized companies who were aged 35-64 and who had tested positive for diabetes in a screening. Only 42% of the subjects visited a doctor for medical diagnosis during an average follow-up period of 47.5 d. Cox's proportional hazard regression was used to analyze the length of time between the employees' receipt of the results and their first visit to a doctor's office. The employees who could comfortably take a day off, compared to those who found it difficult to do so, were more likely to visit a doctor (hazard ratio (HR) 1.94; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.85, 4.42; p for trend 0.05). In addition, employees with a high level of psychological job control, compared to those with low level of job control, were more likely to visit a doctor (HR 1.80; 95%CI 0.94, 3.45; p for trend 0.08). Employees who worked the longest (61 h per week or more) were less likely to visit a doctor than those working from 41 to 60 h weekly (HR 0.41; 95%CI 0.17, 0.98). The findings suggest that a flexible work schedule, autonomy at work, and no excessive working hours tend to improve the chance of visiting a doctor after screening for diabetes mellitus.