A cross-sectional study of the association between effort-reward imbalance and psychologic distress among Japanese dietitians.
OBJECTIVES
This study aims to clarify dietitians' effort-reward imbalance (ERI) and examine its association with psychologic distress.


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey was conducted. A total of 3593 questionnaires were distributed to dietitians in about 110 organizations and 1890 responses were received (response rate 52.6%). Hence, a total of 1743 valid questionnaires were used in the analysis. Effort-reward (ER) ratio was measured by a subscale of the ERI Questionnaire, and psychologic distress was measured by the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6). The association between the ER ratio and psychologic distress was analyzed by multiple logistic regression analysis with covariates.


RESULTS
The mean ER ratio was 0.83 (SD = 0.53) and ERI (ER ratio >1) prevalence was 26.3%. The mean K6 score was 7.1 (5.3), and psychologic distress (K6 score ≥5) prevalence was 62.4%. The increased psychologic distress was associated with a higher ER ratio, less support from supervisors and coworkers, and lower age and household income. ERI was significantly associated with psychologic distress, even after being adjusted for covariates.


CONCLUSIONS
Dietitians experience high stress, as shown by their high ER ratio and K6 scores. Their ERI was greatly associated with psychologic distress.
['Yaginuma-Sakurai|Kozue|K|https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6167-889X', 'Saito|Chotoku|C|', 'Kasahara|Yoshiko|Y|', 'Tsuno|Kanami|K|https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9399-6596', 'Yoshimasu|Kouichi|K|', 'Tatsuta|Nozomi|N|', 'Goto|Miki|M|', 'Nakai|Kunihiko|K|']
D000328:Adult D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D004651:Employment D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007564:Japan D016015:Logistic Models D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D008960:Models, Psychological D064686:Nutritionists D000079225:Psychological Distress D012201:Reward D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
effort-reward imbalance psychologic distress dietitians coworker support supervisor support