White-collar Workers in Russia: Occupational Diseases and Lifestyle

Aims: The contribution of knowledge workers to the global economy is growing every year. However, the impact of negative factors of production on the health conditions of this group is underestimated. Lack of attention to the health of white collars can lead to poor performance in individual businesses and economies of entire countries. The purpose of this study is to analyze behavioral patterns of knowledge workers in Russia, identify the most typical diseases for this group and develop recommendations aimed at prevention of occupational diseases. Methods: The study was conducted on the sample of 2,623 employed Russian residents who participated in the RLMS survey in 2019. To improve the interpretability of the results, the sample was divided into two subsamples by gender. The first sample consists of 1,188 women (blue collars: 326; white collars: 862). The second sample consists of 1,435 men (blue-collar: 1050; white-collar: 385). The study was conducted using statistical tests and logistic regression. Results: Significant differences in lifestyle were found between occupational groups. White collars are more likely to do sports and less likely to drink alcohol or smoke. Among the most common diseases of knowledge workers are heart diseases for women and eye disease for men. There is also limited evidence of an increased risk of cardiovascular disease among white-collar men. Blue collars may be more prone to depression and varicose veins. There is no evidence of a relationship between occupation and diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Conclusion: Increased stress levels and prolonged computer use may be the main risk factors for white-collar workers in Russia. Several disease prevention interventions have been proposed, such as reducing workload, encouraging physical activity, and raising awareness among employees. Keywords: occupational diseases, white-collar workers, blue-collar workers