Association between workplace discrimination and depressive symptoms among firefighters in South Korea

Background: Workplace discrimination is associated with poor mental health. However, there is a lack of studies examining the effects of discrimination on depressive symptoms among firefighters. Methods: We analyzed a national cross-sectional survey of 6369 firefighters in South Korea. Workplace discrimination during the past year was measured and main reasons for the discriminatory experience (gender, birth region, age, education, field/office work, job division) were identified separately by gender and job division. Depressive symptoms during the previous week were measured by the CES-D11. Results: Overall, 30.3% of firefighters experienced workplace discrimination and the main reasons for discrimination differed by gender and job division. Firefighters who experienced workplace discrimination had a higher likelihood of depressive symptoms than those who did not after adjusting for potential confounders (PR: 1.73; 95%CI: 1.55, 1.92). Conclusions: This finding suggests that experience of workplace discrimination could aggravate the mental health of firefighters who provide an important public service.