An assessment of the impact of occupational health workers' activities on the workers' health: Preliminary results and protocol of a nationwide Internet-based longitudinal survey (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazunori Ikegami ◽  
Yasuro Yoshimoto ◽  
Hiroka Baba ◽  
Shingo Sekoguchi ◽  
Hajime Ando ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Due to the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, work environments and systems, as well as occupational health measures or activities that fall within our research field, are constantly changing. We consider it necessary to assess the impact of these changes on the physical and mental health of workers. OBJECTIVE To assess how occupational health measures affect the health of workers, we conducted a baseline longitudinal Internet-based survey among Japanese workers in October 2021, and additionally scheduled two follow-up surveys for 2022 and 2023. METHODS This survey is a prospective cohort study conducted online among Internet monitors. The baseline survey was conducted from October 1 to 7, 2021. The study targeted those who were working and between the ages of 20 and 69 years. Regarding sampling plan, 5111 respondents who passed the screening survey and proceeded to the main survey were enrolled according to collection units organized by both sex and age group. For the screening and main surveys, the questionnaire consisted of 9 and 33 items, with 9 and 55 total number of questions, respectively. We performed consistency and completeness checks after the questionnaires were submitted. We compared the basic characteristics such as sex, age group, educational background, and marital status among all participants including withdrawal participants in the analysis. RESULTS Of the 5,111 initial survey respondents, 571 were regarded as fraudulent. The data of the remaining 4,540 participants (Male: 2273, Female:2267) included for analysis were well-balanced across participant gender and age group according to the sampling plan, because there was no significant difference by sex and age group using the chi-square test for checking the distribution bias of the participants (p=0.838). With compared to Female participants, male participants tended to be more likely to be managers and supervisors (Male:323, Female: 86), to work in a secondary industry (Male:742, Female: 357), and to have annual income ≥5 million yen (Male:976, Female:429). For the evaluation of a psychological indicator, Kessler 6 (K6), according to gender and age group, the characteristics of the score distribution of the included participants were similar to those reported in previous studies. CONCLUSIONS This study presents a protocol and an overview of the results of an Internet-based occupational health survey of workers. Using the results of this survey, we hope to evaluate the changes in occupational health activities and their impact on workers' health while controlling for the COVID-19 pandemic period.

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (05) ◽  
pp. 4563
Author(s):  
Tariq A. Zafar

Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) test indicates the blood glucose levels for the previous two to three months. Using HbA1c test may overcome many of the practical issues and prevent infections such as urinary tract infections (UTIs). The study aimed to evaluate the impact of glycemic control using HbA1c test to understand patient characteristics and UTIs prevalence. Glycemic control was evaluated by measuring HbA1c for a total of 208 diabetes patients who were regularly attending diabetes center in Al-Noor specialist hospital in Makkah.  The results showed that good and moderate glycemic controlled patients were 14.9% and 16.9% respectively while the poor glycemic patients were 68.3%. Among the good improved glycemic control, 83.9% were females, 48.4% were from age group (15-44y). Among the moderately improved glycemic control, 68.4% were females, 54.3% were from age group (45-64 y) with no significant difference. The total number of the patients with positive UTIs was 55 (26.4%) while the total number of patients with negative was UTIs 153 (73.6%). Among the positive UTIs, 76.3% were with poor glycemic control while only 12.3% and 11% were moderate and good improved glycemic control respectively. Among the negative UTIs, 65.3% were with poor glycemic control while only 19% and 15.7% were with moderate and good improved glycemic control respectively.  Prevalence of UTIs among diabetic patients was not significant (p > 0.05). It was concluded that HbA1c was useful monitoring tool for diabetes mellitus and may lead to improved outcomes. Using a HbA1c test may overcome many of the practical issues that affect the blood glucose tests.


SLEEP ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. A91-A92
Author(s):  
Babita Pande ◽  
Meenakshi Sinha ◽  
Ramanjan Sinha

Abstract Introduction Lockdown and stay home order has been imposed on people in many countries including India to prevent the community transmission of COVID-19 pandemic. However this social restriction led to disturbed daily routine and lifestyle behaviour that is needed to be attended for proper therapeutic management of overall health during such crisis. The impact of lockdown on the most apparent behavioral changes viz. sleep-wake behaviour, major meal timings, and digital screen duration of Indians were investigated. In addition the effects of gender and age were explored. Methods After seeking permission from Ethical Institution, an online questionnaire based survey was circulated within India in the first week of May, 2020 for which total 1511 male and female (age ≥18 years) subjects participated. The sleep-wake behavior observed were sleep-wake timings, sleep duration, mid sleep time (MST) as function of lockdown, and social (lockdown) jetlag (SJL = MST before lockdown-MST during lockdown). Results The sleep onset-wakeup and meal times were significantly delayed during lockdown, which was more pronounced in younger age group. The sleep duration increased, specifically in young individuals during lockdown. Females showed more delayed sleep onset-waking times and first meal timing with longer sleep duration during lockdown. Increased digital media duration was observed in all age groups, primarily in males. The younger age group and specifically female reported higher SJL and delayed MST. A positive association was obtained between sleep duration & first meal time, and SJL & major meal timings/screen duration, and a significant negative relationship of sleep duration and SJL with age. Conclusion The study shows delayed sleep-wake schedule, meal timings and increased digital media duration among Indians during COVID-19 lockdown compared to before lockdown. Also, gender and age emerged as important mediating factors for this alteration. The pandemic has given opportunity to sleep more and compensate for the sleep. In spite of that, the higher social jetlag in young age group and female showed the compromised sleep and maladaption with societal timing. These findings have applied implications in sleep health during longer social isolation conditions and for proper therapeutic management. Support (if any) No


2021 ◽  
Vol 126 (5) ◽  
pp. 717-721
Author(s):  
Giulio Francolini ◽  
Isacco Desideri ◽  
Giulia Stocchi ◽  
Lucia Pia Ciccone ◽  
Viola Salvestrini ◽  
...  

Abstract Background and purpose COVID-19 constitutes a worldwide threat, prompting Italian Government to implement specific measures on March 8, 2020, to protect patients and health workers from disease transmission. The impact of preventive measures on daily activity of a radiotherapy facility may hamper the ability to fulfill normal workload burden. Thus, we assessed the number of delivered treatments in a specific observation period after the adoption of preventive measures (since March 11 to April 24, 2020) and compared it with the corresponding period of the year 2019. Materials and methods Overall number of delivered fractions was related to actual time of platform daily activity and reported as a ratio between number of delivered fractions and activity hours (Fr/Hrs). Fr/Hrs were calculated and compared for two different periods of time, March 11–April 24, 2019 (Fr/Hrs1), and March 11–April 24, 2020 (Fr/Hrs2). Results Fr/Hrs1 and Fr/Hrs2 were 2.66 and 2.54 for year 2019 and 2020, respectively, for a Fr/Hrsratio of 1.07 (95% CI 1.03–1.12, p = 0.0005). Fr/Hrs1 was significantly higher than Fr/Hrs2 for SliR and PreciseR, with Fr/Hrsratio of 1.92 (95% CI 1.66–2.23, p < 0.0001) and 1.11 (95% CI 1.03–1.2, p = 0.003), respectively. No significant difference was reported for SynergyR and CyberknifeR with Fr/Hrsratio of 0.99 (95% CI 0.91–1.08, p = 0.8) and 0.9 (95% CI 0.77–1.06, p = 0.2), respectively. Fr/Hrs1 was significantly lower than Fr/Hrs2 for TomotherapyR, with Fr/Hrsratio of 0.88 (95% CI 0.8–0.96, p = 0.007). Conclusion Preventive measures did not influence workload burden performed. Automation in treatment delivery seems to compensate effectively for health workers number reduction.


Author(s):  
Priscilla O Okunji ◽  
Johnnie Daniel

Background: Patients with myocardial infarction reportedly have different outcomes on discharge according to hospital characteristics. In the present study, we evaluated the differences between urban teaching hospitals (UTH) and non-teaching hospitals (NTH), discharged in 2012. We also investigated on the outcomes. Methods: Sample of 117,808 subjects diagnosed with myocardial infarction were extracted from a nationwide inpatient stay dataset using the International Classification Data, ICD 9 code 41000 in the United States, according to hospital location, size, and teaching status. Results: The analysis of the data showed that more whites were admitted to both teaching and non teaching hospitals with more males (~24%) admitted than their female counterparts. However, blacks were admitted more (~15%) in urban teaching hospitals than medium urban non teaching hospitals. Age difference was noted as well, while age group (60-79 years) were admitted more in UTH, inversely urban non-teaching hospitals admitted more older (80 years or older) age group. A significant difference (~28%) was observed in both hospital categories with UTH admitting more patients of $1.00 - $38,999.00 income group than other income categories. In addition, it was observed that patients with MI stayed more (~5%) for 14 or more days, and charged more especially for income group of $80,000 or above in UTH than NTH. No significant difference was found in the mortality rate for both hospital categories. Conclusion: The overall outcomes showed that the mortality rate between urban teaching and non-teaching hospitals were non significant, though the inpatients MI stayed longer and were charged more in UTH than NTH. The authors call for the study to be replicated with a higher level of statistical measures to ascertain the impact of the variables on the outcomes for a more validated result.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 640-640
Author(s):  
K Unjia ◽  
R Bennett ◽  
L Lashley

Abstract Objective This study aimed to examine the relationship between developmental stages and concussions that resulted in amnesia as measured by ImPACT. Method Participants were selected from an archival de-identified sports medicine ImPACT database. The sample (N = 4,200) was primarily male (62.2%) student athletes with ages ranging from 10 to 25 years. Participants were divided into three groups: Young athletes (n = 1,400), Adolescent (n = 1,400), and Adult (n = 1,400). A One-Way ANOVA was conducted to determine the relationship between age group and prevalence of concussions resulting in anterograde or retrograde amnesia. Results The One-Way ANOVA revealed significant differences between age group and anterograde F(2,4197) = 107.449, p &lt; .001 and retrograde amnesia F(2,4197) = 82.949, p &lt; .001. Bonferroni pairwise comparison revealed the adolescent athlete group experienced more concussions that result in both anterograde and retrograde amnesia compared to young and adult athletes. There was no significant difference between young and adult athletes. Additionally, there is a significant difference regarding total games missed following concussion F(2,4197) = 117.723, p &lt; .001, with adolescent athletes missing more games compared to young and adult athletes. Conclusions The findings of this study suggest adolescent athletes tend to experience more amnesia-related concussions compared to young and adult athletes. Additionally, adolescent athletes miss more games following these types of concussions. This study highlights the impact that certain types of concussions have on athletes across the developmental stages. Future research should analyze the cognitive effects of various types of concussions across the developmental stages.


2022 ◽  
pp. 23-57
Author(s):  
Sonali Rani Sahansra ◽  
Anshu Sharma

This study aimed to investigate the impact of game-based learning on student performance. For this reason, an empirical study was conducted which comprises the comparison of traditional learning and game-based learning. The participants were lower primary school students of age group 6-8 years. GSR NUL-217 logger sensor was used to record the physiological signals of each participant in real time. An Android-based game intervention named “KidsZoneApp” was developed which included mathematics and English lesson plans according to the student's curriculum. The collected log data was used to calculate the changes in different dimensions of completing the task. ANOVA yielded a very significant difference between game-based learning and traditional learning groups. Overall, the results showed that game-based learning contributed to increased students' performance levels. Significantly, students under game-based learning completed the task in lesser time as compared to traditional learning.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Antara Ghosh ◽  
Pramita Chakraborty

The aim of the present study is to find out the impact of family pathology on behavioural and emotional problems of children. The data has been taken from the parents, both father and mother of 60 boys and 60 girls (120 children) between the age group of 9-12 years using the Family Pathology Scale (FPS) and Problem Behavior Checklist (PBCL) questionnaire along with a General Information Schedule . The data obtained from the sample was statistically analysis by using Frequency, Percentage, Mean, SD, Correlation and ‘t’-test. The obtained result showed that both of the boys (M-75) and girls (M-73.05) parents have moderate family pathology and mothers’ placed their children at moderate level (M-104.22) in PBCL but the fathers’ placed them at mild level (M-77.12) in PBCL. The analysis reveals that there is a significant difference between father of boys and girls (p<0.05, 3.92/(p>0.05, 2.53) as well as mother of boys and girls (p<0.05,12.38/(p>0.05, 20.2) in respective of FPS and PBCL. Finally the study reveals that there is a slightly significant relationship with family pathology (with father and children-0.06 and with mother and children-0.09) on the behavioural and emotional problems of children.


2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-193
Author(s):  
Masroor Khanum ◽  
Kausar Rahmati Khan

This study investigates the Impact of Indian Dramas on Language in Pakistan through survey methodology. A questionnaire was used as a tool of data collection. In this research the researcher recorded the opinion of people about the Impact of Indian Dramas on Language. Researcher recorded the gender, age group, educational background, social status, habits of watching Indian dramas and their impacts on language of people and children. This research was done on both the gender. Results show that Indian media has some effects on language and people use Hindi phrases and words intentionally or unintentionally.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 186
Author(s):  
Prabhat Pandey ◽  
Neeraj Dokania ◽  
Pooja Pandey ◽  
Ajay Singh Raghuwanshi

Background: People with diabetes have an increased prevalence of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease (CHD) and experience higher morbidity and mortality after acute coronary syndrome and myocardial infarction than people without diabetes. Diabetes also appears to be a major cause of the higher rate of both short and long-term mortality observed in women hospitalized with acute MI compared to men. Objective of the study was to observe the impact of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels on outcomes in MI.Methods: The prospective observational study was conducted on 200 patients from the age group more than 36 years and lesser than 95 years presented with acute myocardial infarction (STEMI or NSTEMI). Patients were divided into group A (Diabetics) and group B (non-diabetics). Investigations performed were FBS, RBS, HbA1c, CBC, LFT, RFT, lipid profile, ECG and echocardiography. Patients were followed up till discharge/death and all complications like arrhythmias, cardiac failure, cardiogenic shock and re infarction were noted.Results: Majority of the 34.5% patients belongs to the age group of 56-65 years. No significant difference found between the subject population of the diabetic and non-diabetic group. The percentage of mortality in male patients was reported higher in the group having HbAlc level ≥7 (21.15%) in comparison to a group having HbAlc level <7 (6.15%) whereas in females the percentage of mortality was 11.63% in the group having HbAlc ≥7 , higher than the group having HbAlc level <7, 2.5%. Percentage mortality was higher in the patients having HbAlc >7, in both groups’ patients aged below 60 years 14.81% and 17.65% in the group of patients aged above 60 years.Conclusions: Higher HbAlc level significantly affects the outcome of MI patients. The percentage mortality due to MI was higher in male with aged above 60 years and having HbAlc level >7.


Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 871
Author(s):  
Mahmut Can Kizil ◽  
Omer Kilic ◽  
Mehmet Ceyhan ◽  
Merve Iseri Nepesov ◽  
Adem Karbuz ◽  
...  

Meningococcal carriage studies and transmission modeling can predict IMD epidemiology and used to define invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) control strategies. In this multicenter study, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of nasopharyngeal Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) carriage, serogroup distribution, and related risk factors in Turkey. Nasopharyngeal samples were collected from a total of 1267 children and adolescents and were tested with rt-PCR. Nm carriage was detected in 96 participants (7.5%, 95% CI 6.1–9.0), with the peak age at 13 years (12.5%). Regarding age groups, Nm carriage rate was 7% in the 0–5 age group, was 6.9%in the 6–10 age group, was 7.9% in the 11–14 age group, and was 9.3% in the 15–18 age group. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups (p > 0.05). The serogroup distribution was as follows: 25% MenX, 9.4% MenA, 9.4% MenB, 2.1% MenC, 3.1% MenW, 2.1% for MenY, and 48.9% for non-groupable. The Nm carriage rate was higher in children with previous upper respiratory tract infections and with a high number of household members, whereas it was lower in children with antibiotic use in the last month (p < 0.05 for all). In this study, MenX is the predominant carriage strain. The geographical distribution of Nm strains varies, but serogroup distribution in the same country might change in a matter of years. Adequate surveillance and/or a proper carriage study is paramount for accurate/dynamic serogroup distribution and the impact of the proposed vaccination.


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