Analysis of the association of long working hours on anxiety and self-reported work-related musculoskeletal symptoms among female workers in electronics manufacturing enterprises in Guangdong Province

Background Female workers were the main force in electronic manufacturing enterprises. This study aims to understand the current status of long working hours among female workers in the electronic manufacturing industry in Guangdong Province, and to explore the association of long working hours on anxiety and self-reported work-related musculoskeletal symptoms. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling method from July to September 2022, including a total of 193 electronic manufacturing enterprises in Guangdong Province. We distributed a total of 5,300 copies of the Individual questionnaire of the National Key Population Occupational Health Literacy Monitoring Survey , which included general demographic characteristics, and the detection rate of long working hours, anxiety and self-reported work-related musculoskeletal symptoms. A total of 4,976 female workers participated in the questionnaire survey after excluding invalid questionnaires, with the effective rate of 93.9%. A binary logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association of weekly working hours on anxiety and self-reported work-related musculoskeletal symptoms. Results The detection rates of long working hours (working more than 40 h a week), anxiety and self-reported work-related musculoskeletal symptoms among female workers in electronics manufacturing enterprises in Guangdong Province were 67.8%, 23.0%, and 43.2%, respectively. The detection rate of self-reported work-related musculoskeletal symptoms in the anxiety group was higher than that in the non-anxiety group (65.2 vs . 36.7%, P < 0.001). The logistic regression model showed that long working hours were positively correlated with anxiety and self-reported work-related musculoskeletal symptoms after controlling for factors such as age, education level, marital status, length of service, enterprise scale, enterprise nature and night shift (both P < 0.01). Specifically, the longer weekly working hours exhibited a positive association with the development of anxiety and self-reported work-related musculoskeletal symptoms, with OR (95% CI ) values of 1.067 (1.021–1.116) and 1.067 (1.028–1.108), respectively. Conclusions The female workers employed in electronics manufacturing enterprises in Guangdong Province generally worked for long weekly hours, and a positive association was found between long working hours and the occurrence of anxiety and self-reported work-related musculoskeletal symptoms.