Occupational and Leisure-Time Physical Activity Related to Job Stress and Job Satisfaction: Correspondence Analysis on a Population-Based Study.

Background: Leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) is not the same as occupational activity. Various factors influence both forms of physical activity, including job stress and job satisfaction, but the associations found are weak, and the need for new studies in large populations is emphasized. The objective was to study the relationship between job stress and job satisfaction, and the relationship between these and occupational and leisure-time physical activity according to the National Survey of Health 2017.

Methods: A population-based study of 8716 workers between 18 and 65 years of age. The variables age, sex, leisure, and occupational-time physical activity (OTPA), educational level, type of occupation, job stress level, and job satisfaction were collected. A simple and multiple correspondence analysis was performed between the variables that reached statistical significance.

Results: 4621 cases (53.02%) correspond to men with a mean age of 44.83 years (SD 10.22) and 4095 cases to women with a mean age of 44.55 years (SD 10.23). Women had higher percentages of higher education ( < 0.001), intermediate to high occupations and unskilled ( < 0.001), job stress ( < 0.001), covered the most extreme levels of satisfaction ( = 0.003), and do less LTPA ( < 0.001) and OTPA ( < 0.001). Also, in women a relationship was found between job stress and LTPA ( = 0.024), as well as between satisfaction and both forms of physical activity (OTPA = 0.013 and LTPA < 0.001). In men, significance was only reached in the relationship between job stress and OTPA ( <0.001).

Conclusions: The higher the job stress, the less the job satisfaction, but the relationship is reversed in the intermediate categories. For both sexes, job stress is related to a sedentary lifestyle and higher employment and education levels. Higher levels of satisfaction correspond to higher levels of occupancy. The relationship between job satisfaction and educational level is direct in women but inverse in men. In women, there is a relationship between sedentary occupations and job satisfaction. In addition, intense physical activity at work is related to higher levels of job stress, lower satisfaction levels, and less physical activity in leisure-time.