Abstract

Several previous studies investigated the effects of occupational stress on the onset of diabetes mellitus (DM). However, studies of occupational stress and DM using the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ), a standard stress check method in Japan, are limited. This study aimed to determine the relationship between occupational stress factors and the onset of DM using the BJSQ.

We examined 6,620 male workers in a company aged 40 years and above in 2013. At that time, the BJSQ was administered. Overall, 2,604 subjects with impaired glucose tolerance that was free of mental disorders and DM were followed-up for 5 years and re-examined in 2017. The retrospective data analysis was conducted in 2019. We documented 241 new cases of DM in 2017 (diabetes group). Compared with the non-diabetes group, subjects in the diabetes group had significantly decreased “skill utilization”. The binomial logistic regression analysis (generalized linear model) revealed that “skill utilization” was associated with the risk of DM development in 2017 (odds ratio, 1.632; 95% confidence interval, 1.061–2.510). Our results showed that low utilization of skill might increase the risk of diabetes development in Japanese male workers.