Gender and Somatosensory Amplification in Relation to Perceived Work Stress and Social Support in Japanese Workers

To examine gender-related differences in somatization among workers, 490 Japanese municipal office employees (248 women) completed the Medical Symptom Checklist, Somatosensory Amplification Scale (SSAS), and Profile of Mood States (POMS), along with questionnaires on their working environment. In women, SSAS scores were positively associated with perceived work stress, and negatively with social support levels (both p < 0.01). Female sex was significantly associated with SSAS scores (p < 0.01), controlling for the effects of total somatic symptom count, POMS tension-anxiety and depression scores, perceived working stress, and social support. The phenomenon of somatosensory amplification might be essential in estimating gender-specific symptoms in a working population.