Association between headaches and lifestyle factors and physical and mental symptoms among 63,071 workers at a Japanese information technology company.

Abstract

Background: Headaches are common and can significantly affect working conditions. To reduce their occurrence at work, identifying factors associated with headaches is important. We aimed to investigate the association between headaches and lifestyle factors, as well as physical and mental symptoms, among workers at the Fujitsu Group, a Japanese information technology company, to identify factors contributing to workplace headaches.

Methods: The results of a 2022 Stress Check Survey questionnaire (mandated by Japanese occupational law requirements) were evaluated concerning 63,071 Fujitsu Group workers (men, n = 50,360; [mean age ± standard deviation, 45.6 ± 10.7 years]; women, n = 12,711 [41.8 ± 11.5 years]).

Results: The headache rates according to frequency category (seldom, sometimes, often, and almost always) were as follows: men, 48.8%, 34.2%, 13.9%, and 3.1%, respectively, and women, 33.6%, 39.9%, 21.0%, and 5.5%, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis of lifestyle factors showed that the odds ratio (OR [95% confidence interval]) for headache (sometimes, often, or almost always) was highest in the presence of "high stress levels" (men, 7.13 [6.57-7.73]; women, 8.79 [7.07-10.94]). Other lifestyle factors included "seldom exercising" (men, 1.47 [1.36-1.60]; women, 1.55 [1.27-1.89]) and "weekday sitting time > 12 h" (men, 1.35 [1.27-1.43]; women, 1.61 [1.40-1.84]). The population attributable fraction for "exercise habits," "high stress levels," and "sitting time" in men was 26.1%, 8.4%, and 5.2%, respectively, and 30.5%, 5.4%, and 4.9%, in women, respectively. Further analysis regarding physical and mental symptoms showed that the ORs for headache increased with the presence of "stiff shoulders" (men, 3.65 [3.37-3.96]; women, 5.08 [4.26-6.05]), "insomnia" (men, 2.71 [2.41-3.05]; women, 2.61 [2.00-3.41]), "eye strain" (men, 2.62 [2.40-2.86]; women, 2.31 [1.93-2.76]), "depression" (men, 2.35 [2.06-2.69]; women, 2.35 [1.76-3.14]), "back pain" (men, 1.66 [1.53-1.80]; women, 2.08 [1.75-2.40]), and "anxiety" (men, 1.32 [1.18-1.48]; women, 1.55 [1.20-2.00]).

Conclusions: This large-scale survey among Japanese workers revealed the strength of the association between headaches and various lifestyle factors, and physical and mental symptoms. These findings could guide workplace interventions to decrease headaches among workers.