Health and related behaviours of partners of fly-in fly-out workers in Australia: a cross-sectional study

Figures & data

Table 1. Multiple logistic regression of personal and FIFO work-related characteristics associated with psychological distress and physical health status (N = 248).

Parameters	Total	Very high/high psychological distress	Poor physical health
	n (%)	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)
Personal characteristics
Age in years
<35	180 (43.6)	1	1
35–44	97 (39.1)	0.61 (0.27–1.36)	1.14 (0.34–3.80)
45+	43 (17.3)	0.88 (0.27–2.85)	0.93 (0.14–6.03)
Ethnicity
Caucasian/White	218 (87.9)	1	1
Other	30 (12.1)	0.77 (0.30–1.94)	3.57 (0.96–13.22)
Relationship status
Married	175 (70.6)	1	1
Civil partnership	6 (2.4)	0.80 (0.13–5.12)	0.42 (0.01–12.02)
De-facto/co-habiting	67 (27.0)	0.95 (0.42–2.17)	1.80 (0.56–5.73)
Relationship duration (in years)
10+	146 (58.9)	1	1
5–9	66 (26.6)	0.58 (0.24–1.41)	2.33 (0.56–9.73)
1–4	36 (14.5)	1.30 (0.40–4.19)	1.16 (0.19–7.16)
Age of youngest child (years)
None	42 (16.9)	1	1
<1	37 (14.9)	0.20 (0.06–0.68)*	2.01 (0.36–11.23)
1–5	76 (30.7)	0.63 (0.22–1.86)	0.29 (0.05–1.64)
6–11	46 (18.6)	0.48 (0.15–1.54)	1.72 (0.33–9.05)
12–17	35 (14.1)	1.05 (0.32–3.51)	0.40 (0.06–2.61)
18+	12 (4.8)	0.45 (0.08–2.39)	0.45 (0.03–6.65)
Educational status
TAFE/College	86 (34.7)	1	1
Secondary education	51 (20.6)	1.04 (0.45–2.42)	1.37 (0.44–4.28)
Bachelor degree	68 (27.4)	0.48 (0.21–1.10)	0.36 (0.09–1.47)
Postgraduate degree	27 (10.9)	0.83 (0.28–2.42)	0.44 (0.06–2.98)
Trade/Apprentice/Other	16 (6.4)	0.76 (0.28–2.52)	0.23 (0.03–1.88)
Employment status
Undertaking house duties	69 (27.8)	1	1
Working full-time	59 (23.8)	0.60 (0.23–1.54)	0.26 (0.06–1.07)
Working part-time	70 (28.2)	0.66 (0.28–1.55)	0.32 (0.08–1.47)
Self-employed	15 (6.1)	1.23 (0.31–4.82)	1.40 (0.20–9.81)
Student	15 (6.1)	0.12 (0.03–0.53)**	0.54 (0.05–5.28)
Other	20 (8.1)	0.34 (0.10–1.22)	0.87 (0.15–4.84)
Smoking status
Non-smokers	124 (50.0)	1	1
Ex-smoker	82 (33.1)	1.19 (0.60–2.38)	0.99 (0.33–2.96)
Current smoker	42 (16.9)	1.60 (0.65–3.90)	2.98 (0.82–10.88)
Alcohol intake
No	40 (16.1)	1	1
Yes	208 (83.9)	1.12 (0.50–2.53)	0.61 (0.19–1.98)
Body mass index
Normal weight	85 (34.3)	1	1
Overweight	78 (31.4)	1.69 (0.78–3.64)	2.55 (0.76–8.53)
Obese	85 (34.3)	1.16 (0.56–2.39)	2.57 (0.79–8.32)
Physical activity
Adequate	138 (55.7)	1	1
Inadequate	110 (44.3)	1.82 (0.97–3.39)	0.77 (0.29–2.04)
FIFO worker’s work characteristics
Partner’s FIFO role
Maintenance/Technician	79 (31.9)	1	1
Management/Administration/services	17 (6.9)	0.70 (0.19–2.63)	0.25 (0.02–3.21)
Professional	36 (14.5)	1.02 (0.41–2.54)	0.52 (0.13–2.14)
Production	15 (6.1)	1.46 (0.39–5.51)	0.65 (0.08–5.39)
Machinery operator and driver	46 (18.6)	1.25 (0.51–3.10)	0.86 (0.25–2.96)
Drilling/Construction/Labourer	34 (13.7)	2.26 (0.81–6.32)	0.17 (0.03–0.85)*
Other	21 (8.5)	2.46 (0.76–7.97)	0.14 (0.02–1.12)
Shift pattern
Rotation shift (mixture of day/night shift)/other	142 (57.3)	1	1
Regular shift (fixed day/fixed night)	106 (42.7)	0.75 (0.39–1.45)	0.82 (0.29–2.32)
Shift hours
<12 hours	18 (7.3)	1	1
12+ hours	230 (92.7)	0.68 (0.20–2.30)	0.60 (0.09–4.11)
Consecutive days spent at work
<8 days	25 (10.1)	0.71 (0.26–1.91)	0.47 (0.08–2.88)
8–14 days	156 (62.9)	1	1
15+ days	67 (27.0)	1.39 (0.59–3.25)	2.92 (0.86–9.85)
Consecutive days spent at home
<8 days	174 (70.2)	1	1
8–14 days	54 (21.8)	1.08 (0.49–2.37)	0.74 (0.22–2.50)
15+ days	20 (8.0)	1.30 (0.33–5.19)	0.25 (0.02–3.34)
FIFO lifetime duration
<3 years	84 (33.9)	1	1
3–4 years	54 (21.8)	0.85 (0.35–2.09)	0.13 (0.03–0.60)**
5–9 years	56 (22.5)	1.09 (0.41–2.93)	0.20 (0.04–0.99)*
10+ years	54 (21.8)	1.24 (0.42–3.66)	0.20 (0.03–1.25)

Note: Reference category: used largest category for age, ethnicity, marital status, education, job, shift pattern, days spent at work and at home, and FIFO duration; and normative category for age of youngest child, employment status, alcohol, smoking, physical activity, BMI and shift hours.

*p < .05; **p < .01.

Table 2. Health status and related behaviours of partners of FIFO workers (N = 248).

Health indicators	On-shift days	Off-shift days	Test statistics	p-value
Sleep duration	6.4 ± 1.3 hours	7.3 ± 1.4 hours	−7.8614	<.001*
<7 hours	135 (54.4)	76 (30.7)	33.80	<.001^¥
7+ hours	113 (45.6)	172 (69.3)
Sleep quality				<.001^¥
Fairly good/very good	136 (54.8)	181 (73.0)	21.32
Fairly bad/very bad	112 (45.2)	67 (27.0)
Alcohol intake
Non-risky	75 (30.2)	73 (29.4)	2.00	.500^¥
Risky	173 (69.8)	175 (70.6)
Smoking	n (%)
Non-smokers	124 (50.0)
Current smokers	42 (16.9)
Ex-smokers	82 (33.1)
Number of cigarettes smoked per day	13.1 ± 8.2	11.6 ± 7.6	2.2000	.034*
Vegetables intake (serves per day)	2.5 ± 1.4	2.4 ± 1.3	1.5463	.123*
<5 serves	230 (92.7)	237 (95.6)	2.58	.167^¥
5 + serves	18 (7.3)	11 (4.4)
Fruits intake (serves per day)	1.6 ± 1.1	1.6 ± 1.1	0.8111	.418*
<2 serves	133 (53.6)	142 (57.3)	1.53	.272^¥
2+ serves	115 (46.4)	106 (42.7)
Moderate/vigorous physical activities	32.6 ± 33.9 mins	32.2 ± 31.6 mins		.869*
Inadequate	110 (44.3)	110 (44.3)	0.00	1.000^¥
Adequate	138 (55.7)	138 (55.7)
Body mass index	n (%)
Underweight	2 (0.8)
Normal/health weight	83 (33.5)
Overweight	78 (31.4)
Obese	85 (34.3)
Physical health status
Poor	37 (14.9)
Good	211 (85.1)
Psychological distress
Low risk	71 (28.6)
Moderate risk	52 (21.0)
High risk	76 (30.6)
Very high risk	49 (19.8)

*p value from paired t-test; ^¥Exact McNemar significance probability; Bold significant at p < .05.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, [BYAA]. The data are not publicly available due to ethical restrictions and privacy issues.