Trend of Metabolic Syndrome Indicators in Working Korean Women According to Smoking Status and Workplace Size: A Population-Based Retrospective Longitudinal Study

Objective: Smoking, a risk factor for metabolic syndrome, is associated with stress relief and pleasure among women, which can hinder efforts to quit smoking, particularly in workplaces. We investigated the metabolic syndrome indicators among working Korean women based on smoking status and workplace size to devise tailored smoking cessation policies.

Design: Retrospective longitudinal study.

Sample: Data from 53,126 working Korean women aged 15-64 years were collected between 2009 and 2015.

Measurements: Data were collected from the Female Employees Database derived from the National Health Insurance Service. To assess the trend of metabolic syndrome indicators among working Korean women according to smoking status and workplace size, repeated-measures analysis of variance was used.

Results: Significant interactions were found between time and group for waist circumference (WC), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and fasting glucose (FG) levels. Trends of metabolic syndrome were more prevalent in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMSEs) than in large-sized enterprises (LSEs). Current smokers in the LSE group had the highest WC, triglyceride, systolic blood pressure, and FG values.

Conclusions: These insights may be valuable for devising policies and interventions to improve metabolic health among women working in SMSEs and current smokers in LSEs.