Yonsei University · Health Professions
Professor Jin-Ha Yoon's research lab focuses on occupational and environmental health, with a strong emphasis on the psychological and physiological impacts of workplace stressors and hazardous exposures. Key research directions include the associations between occupational noise, gender discrimination, and crystalline silica exposure with mental health outcomes such as depression and suicidal ideation, as well as the links between poor lung function and kidney or cardiovascular damage. The lab employs large-scale epidemiological studies and systematic reviews to investigate the long-term health effects of occupational hazards, particularly in Asian populations.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Our study shows that occupational noise annoyance is significantly related to mental health, including depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation after controlling for individual and socio-demographic characteristics even with gender stratification. However, prospective studies with quantified noise exposure assessment were needed to elucidate the causality on the association between noise annoyance and psychological symptoms.
Workplace gender discrimination was found to be significantly associated with depressive symptoms after adjustment for socio-demographic factors. Further, women under 40 years of age were especially vulnerable to workplace gender discrimination.
Crystalline silica is a widely used industrial material that is readily available worldwide, and is one of the most common types of particulate mineral pollutants. It has been classified as a group 1 human carcinogen of the respiratory system; however, whether it is linked to gastric cancer remains uncertain. We conducted a systemic review and meta-analyses to search for evidence of the relationship between gastric cancer and occupational exposure to crystalline silica. We searched for articles
We examined the relationship of high emotional demands and low job control to suicidal ideation among service and sales workers in Korea. A total of 1,995 service and sales workers participated in this study. Suicidal ideation and level of emotional demand and job control were assessed by self-reported questionnaire in 4th Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Gender-specific odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for suicidal ideation were calculated using logi
Our study, the first investigation in Asia, demonstrated that the restrictive pattern is related to MAU in men. Furthermore, there was linear relationship between lower FVC and UACR. Thus, our current study suggests that poor lung function, particularly the restrictive pattern, is related to kidney damage as well as atherosclerosis.
This large cross-sectional study highlights that long commute time is related to sleep problems in both sexes. Shorter commute times and decreased working hours are needed to prevent sleep problems in workers.
Long WHs and shift work were associated with suicidal ideation when taking into account gender and employment differences. The harmful effects of exceptionally long WHs in Korea, among other Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, raise concerns about public and occupational health. To address the issue of long WHs, labor policies that reduce maximum working hours and facilitate job stability are needed.
We reviewed articles to clarify the current evidence status for 1) types of cancer which related to benzene exposure, and 2) certain benzene exposure level which might cause the hematopoietic cancers. Hematopoietic function of the bone marrow is involved in the production of all blood cells types. The benzene metabolites including benzoquinone and mucoaldehyde affect hematopoietic stem cells as well as differentiation steps of progenitor cells for each blood cell. Hence, we concluded that benzen
To determine the actual firefighter injury statistics in Korea, we conducted a survey on the nature of on-duty injuries among all male firefighters in Korea. We distributed questionnaires to all Korean male firefighters via email, and data from the 19,119 workers that responded were used for data analysis. The job types were categorized into fire suppression, emergency medical service (EMS) and officers. As estimated of age standardized injury prevalence per one thousand workers, 354 fire exting
Occupational exposures to vibration and noise are associated with NSRS. Additional longitudinal studies and tightened education and safety measures are warranted.
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