Showing papers in "Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in 2005"
TL;DR: Sickness presence, that is, going to work despite judging one’s current state of health as such that sick leave should be taken, was investigated in relation to different work and background factors.
Abstract: Sickness presenteeism: prevalence, attendance-pressure factors, and an outline of a model for research
563 citations
TL;DR: The cost associated with performance based work loss or “presenteeism” greatly exceeded the combined costs of absenteeism and medical treatment combined for all chronic conditions studied.
Abstract: Objective:The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and estimate total costs for chronic health conditions in the U.S. workforce for the Dow Chemical Company (Dow).Methods:Using the Stanford Presenteeism Scale, information was collected from workers at five locations on work impair
527 citations
TL;DR: ADHD is a common and costly workplace condition and effectiveness trials are needed to estimate the region of interest of workplace ADHD screening and treatment programs.
Abstract: Objective:The prevalence and workplace consequences of adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are unknown.Methods:An ADHD screen was included in a national household survey (n = 3198, ages 18–44). Clinical reinterviews calibrated the screen to diagnoses of Diagnostic and Stati
329 citations
TL;DR: Levels of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants in blood from the U.S. population at the present time and 30 years previously and also current human milk levels are reported, indicating there have been significant changes in levels of each class of these persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in U.s. human blood.
Abstract: Brominated flame retardants have come into common use in the United States during the past 3 decades. This study reports levels of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants in blood from the U.S. population at the present time and 30 years previously and also current human milk levels. This is also the first study to report measured congeners and dioxin toxic equivalents (TEQs) of dioxins, dibenzofurans, and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from archived, 1973, blood and compare them with current levels. The findings indicate there have been significant changes in levels of each class of these persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in U.S. human blood. Although dioxin, dibenzofuran, and PCB levels are markedly higher in the 1973 blood, the opposite is true for PBDEs. Furthermore, unlike dioxins, dibenzofurans, and PCBs, which increase with age, there was no significant correlation found in our study between PBDE levels and age. Current total PBDE levels in U.S. blood are the highest reported worldwide to date, with 2 pooled samples (N = 100 each) measuring 61.7 and 79.7 parts per billion (ppb) lipid, and in a series of 39 individual analyses, the range was 4.6 to 365.5 ppb with a median of 29 ppb and a mean of 52.6 ppb. The median for women in this study was 43.3 ppb, and for men it was 25.1 ppb. Although women have a higher level of PBDEs in blood than men, in our study, this is not statistically significant. Blood levels are similar to levels in U.S. human milk from 59 women, 6.2 to 418.8 ppb lipid. Levels of PBDE in pooled 2003 serum are far higher at 61.7 ppb than in 1973 archived pooled serum in which almost no PBDEs were quantified, although the estimated level using half the detection limit for nondetects was 0.77 ppb. Although no human health studies have been conducted on PBDEs, they are of concern because in vivo and in vitro animal studies show nervous system, reproductive, developmental, and endocrine effects, as well as cancer in high-dose studies.
328 citations
TL;DR: Perception-related risk factors such as life dissatisfaction, job dissatisfaction, poor health, and stress showed the greatest association with presenteeism as the number of self-reported health risk factors increased, so did the percentage of employees reporting work limitations.
Abstract: Objective:Decreased on-the-job productivity represents a large yet poorly characterized indirect cost to employers. We studied the impact of employee health risk factors on self-reported worker productivity (presenteeism).Methods:Using a brief version of the Work Limitation Questionnaire inc
245 citations
TL;DR: These studies confirm the mediating role of intershift-shift recovery in the evolution of adaptive end-of-shift fatigue states to maladaptive persistent fatigue traits and suggest the OFER scale is suggested as a potentially valuable new tool for use in work-related fatigue research.
Abstract: Objective:Various empirical studies link persistent failure to recover from acute fatigue to the evolution of chronic fatigue. However, existing fatigue measurement scales do not tend to distinguish between acute and chronic fatigue elements well, and none include a measure of effective recovery fro
239 citations
TL;DR: Individuals characterized as being completely healthy reported the greatest productivity and the lowest health care use and individuals in complete ill-health had the poorest outcomes.
Abstract: Objective:Health is widely believed to be more than the absence of illness, yet no previous research has documented whether organizations would benefit if occupational health moved beyond an “absence of illness” model.Methods:Cross-sectional data from the Midlife Development in the United States (MI
179 citations
TL;DR: Psychosocial work characteristics were prospectively associated with burnout, suggesting that improving the psychossocial work environment may reduce future burnout in human service work.
Abstract: Objective The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of psychosocial work characteristics on burnout. Methods A total of 1772 participants in different human service sector organizations were eligible for the cross-sectional analyses (baseline) and 952 for the prospective analyses. We measured 14 psychosocial work characteristics and three types of burnout. Linear regression models were used for analyzing associations between psychosocial work characteristics at baseline and burnout at baseline and at 3 years of follow up. Results Low possibilities for development, high meaning of work, low predictability, high quality of leadership, low role clarity, and high role conflicts predicted burnout at 3 years of follow up after the psychosocial work characteristics were adjusted for each other, potential confounders, and burnout level at baseline. Conclusion Psychosocial work characteristics were prospectively associated with burnout, suggesting that improving the psychosocial work environment may reduce future burnout in human service work.
179 citations
TL;DR: A potential for reducing long-term sickness absence is suggested through interventions targeted toward reducing role conflict, and improving reward and management quality among female employees, and through reducing emotional demands and demands for hiding emotions among male employees.
Abstract: Objective: This study examines effects of psychosocial risk factors on long-term sickness absence, and investigates possible interactions between psychosocial and physical work environment risk factors. Methods: A total of 5357 employees were interviewed in 2000 regarding work environment and followed up during the proceeding 1.5 years regarding onset of long-term sickness absence. Results: Long-term sickness absence among female employees was associated with role conflict, low reward, and poor management quality. Demands for hiding emotions and high emotional demands predicted long-term sickness absence among men. No significant interactions between psychosocial and physical exposures were found for female or male employees. Conclusions: The study suggests a potential for reducing long-term sickness absence through interventions targeted toward reducing role conflict, and improving reward and management quality among female employees, and through reducing emotional demands and demands for hiding emotions among male employees.
170 citations
TL;DR: Reducing excess weight in the workforce and improving the health of obese workers could positively impact U.S. workforce productivity.
Abstract: • Recall the prevalence of obesity in this population of predominantly white-collar workers, and the ways in which obese individuals (body mass index [BMI] of 30 kg/m 2 or higher) differed from their overweight (BMI of 25.0–29.9 kg/m 2 ) and normal-weight (BMI of 18.0–24.9 kg/m 2 counterparts. • Describe whether and to what degree obese workers differed from others in absenteeism and presenteeism as reflected by loss of productive time (LPT) in the past 2 weeks, and clarify relationships among obesity, LPT, and overall health status. • Estimate the added dollar costs incurred by employers because of obese and overweight employees.
163 citations
TL;DR: This ratio may help identify workers at increased risk for accidents or injuries and alter melatonin, disrupted sleep, and elevated symptom prevalence among workers on permanent day, swing, and night shifts.
Abstract: Background:Night work is associated with disrupted circadian rhythms, fatigue, accidents, and chronic disease. Melatonin secretion helps regulate sleep and circadian rhythms.Objective:Melatonin, sleep disturbances, and symptoms (sleep, fatigue, mental) were compared among workers on permanen
TL;DR: The association of worksite fitness center participants with improved worker productivity and fewer short-term disability workdays lost is supported.
Abstract: Objectives:We sought to examine the associations between participation in a worksite fitness center and worker productivity.Methods:A modified Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ) and employees’ short-term disability claims were used as productivity measures with multivariate logistic regres
TL;DR: Young Latino immigrants in this study received inadequate training given the hazardous work they performed, and the need for increased bilingual services not just in worker safety training programs, but also in medical clinics and emergency rooms that treat Latino workers.
Abstract: OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the adequacy of safety training provided to young Latino immigrant construction workers. The study posited that, because of their youth and immigrant status, these workers would be less likely to receive adequate training. METHODS: We interviewed 50 youths aged
TL;DR: The restorative hormone testosterone increased during the intervention and changes correlated with increased overall organizational well-being and Absenteeism decreased and productivity improved.
Abstract: Objective: To study whether knowledge about psychosocial work indicators and a structured method to implement changes based on such knowledge comprise an effective management tool for enhancing organizational as well as employee health and well-being. Methods: White– collar employees representing 22 different work units were assessed before and after a 1-year intervention program. Subjective ratings on health and work environment, biologic markers, absenteeism, and productivity were measured. Results: Significant improvements in performance feedback, participatory management, employeeship, skills development, efficiency, leadership, employee well-being, and work-related exhaustion were identified. The restorative hormone testosterone increased during the intervention and changes correlated with increased overall organizational well-being. Absenteeism decreased and productivity improved. Conclusions: Fact-based psychosocial workplace interventions are suggested to be an important process for enhancing employee well-being as well as organizational performance. (J Occup Environ Med. 2005;47:671–682)
TL;DR: The magnitude of occupational disease and injury burden is significant but underestimated and there is a need for an integrated approach to address these underestimates.
Abstract: Objectives:To review the literature on the burden of occupational disease and injury and to provide a comprehensive characterization of the burden.Methods:The scientific and governmental literature from 1990 to the present was searched and evaluated. Thirty-eight studies illustrative of the burden o
TL;DR: This worksite chronic disease prevention program can significantly increase health knowledge, can improve nutrition and physical activity, and can improve many employee health risks in the short term.
Abstract: Objective:This study determined the behavioral and clinical impact of a worksite chronic disease prevention program.Methods:Working adults participated in randomized clinical trial of an intensive lifestyle intervention. Nutrition and physical activity behavior and several chronic disease ri
TL;DR: A chronologic review of growing knowledge in occupational medicine relating work and work hazards to health, and to provide a perspective on the lessions learned from the frequent inattention or misrepresentation of hazards.
Abstract: Objectives:To provide a chronologic review of growing knowledge in occupational medicine relating work and work hazards to health, and to provide a perspective on the lessions learned from the frequent inattention or misrepresentation of hazards.Methods:Many books on the social and medical h
TL;DR: A PMS diagnosis correlated with a modest increase in direct medical costs and a large increase in indirect costs, compared with patients without PMS.
Abstract: Objective:To quantify the economic impact of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) on the employer.Methods:Data were collected from 374 women aged 18–45 with regular menses. Direct costs were quantified using administrative claims of these patients and the Medicare Fee Schedule. Indirect costs were qu
TL;DR: Exposures in particular occupational settings may contribute to sarcoidosis risk, and jobs with metal dust or metal fume exposures were negatively associated with sarcoIDosis risk.
Abstract: Objectives:Objective: To determine whether specific occupations and industries may be associated with sarcoidosis.Methods:A Case Control Etiologic Study of Sarcoidosis (ACCESS) obtained occupational and environmental histories on 706 newly diagnosed sarcoidosis cases and matched controls. We
TL;DR: It is concluded that the animal and epidemiologic data reviewed do not provide sufficient evidence to support a causal association between pesticide exposure and PD.
Abstract: Exposure to pesticides may be a risk factor for developing Parkinson's disease (PD). To evaluate the evidence regarding this association in the scientific literature, we examined both analytic epidemiologic studies of PD cases in which exposure to pesticides was queried directly and whole-animal studies for PD-like effects after systemic pesticide exposure. Epidemiologic studies were considered according to study quality parameters, and results were found to be mixed and without consistent exposure-response or pesticide-specific patterns. These epidemiologic studies were limited by a lack of detailed and validated pesticide exposure assessment. In animal studies, no pesticide has yet demonstrated the selective set of clinical and pathologic signs that characterize human PD, particularly at levels relevant to human populations. We conclude that the animal and epidemiologic data reviewed do not provide sufficient evidence to support a causal association between pesticide exposure and PD.
TL;DR: Current programs and policies for addressing work disability among adults with chronic health conditions are described, and opportunities for new research aimed at reducing the problem are identified.
Abstract: Objectives: To describe current programs and policies for addressing work disability among adults with chronic health conditions, and to identify opportunities for new research aimed at reducing the problem. Methods: The authors conducted secondary data analysis and a literature review. Results: Millions of Americans with a chronic health condition have a work disability or are at risk of developing one. This public health problem is costing hundreds of billions of dollars a year nationally in lost productivity and diminishing the quality of life of millions of Americans. The medical care system, employers, and government—three traditional sources of help for adults with chronic health problems—are not sufficiently oriented toward the primary or secondary prevention of work disability. Conclusions: New research is urgently needed to reduce the burden of work disability on individuals and society. (J Occup Environ Med. 2005;47:253–264)
TL;DR: Gender differences in exposure are present within the same job, and among desk workers exposures were most often higher for women, which was the opposite for assembly workers.
Abstract: Objective: The aim was to determine whether men and women with the same job are equally exposed to work-related physical and psychosocial risk factors for musculoskeletal complaints. Methods: Men (n = 491) and women (n = 342) in 8 jobs with both female and male workers completed a questionnaire on exposure to work-related risk factors. Gender, job title, and potential confounders were included in the final statistical models. Separate analyses were performed for desk workers and assembly workers. Results: For most risk factors gender differences in exposure were found. Among desk workers exposures were most often higher for women, which was the opposite for assembly workers. Conclusions: Although exposure assessment relied on self-report, it seems unlikely that gender differences in reporting behavior completely explained gender differences in exposure. Thus, gender differences in exposure are present within the same job. Copyright © by American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
TL;DR: High job strain and high effort–reward imbalance as global constructs were not associated with heavy drinking and stressful work conditions are not consistently associated withheavy drinking.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship of the job strain model and the effort-reward imbalance model with heavy drinking. METHODS: Questionnaire survey data were obtained from 32,352 women and 8499 men employed in the Finnish public sector (participation 67%). Logistic regression analyses for all employees and for separate subgroups were undertaken by sex, adjusted for age, education, occupational position, marital status, job contract, smoking, and negative affectivity. Different cutoff points of heavy drinking were used for men and women. RESULTS: High job strain and high effort-reward imbalance as global constructs were not associated with heavy drinking. However, some components of these models were associated with heavy drinking but the relationships were not all in the expected direction and they varied by sex, age, and occupational position. CONCLUSIONS: Stressful work conditions are not consistently associated with heavy drinking.
TL;DR: The findings underline the need for interventions aiming at psychological distress and, depending on the gender, also at fatigue, to reduce the risk of long-term sickness absence.
Abstract: Objective:Little is known about psychological distress as a risk factor for the onset of long-term sickness absence and even less about the influence of fatigue in this relationship.Methods:We examined the relationship between psychological distress and the onset of long-term sickness absence during
TL;DR: To identify priorities for further research in protecting healthcare workers from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and other respiratory pathogens by summarizing the basic science of infectious bioaerosols and the efficacy of facial protective equipment.
Abstract: Difficulties in recruitment and retention; high rates of work injuries, illness, and absences from work; and escalating costs plague the health-care systems.1 In British Columbia (BC), Canada, healthcare workers (HCWs) lose more time from work as a result of work-related injury and illness than any other occupational group.2 There are high levels of stress among registered nurses and other nursing personnel3; and, according to the last National Population Health Survey, 11% of nursing assistants sought healthcare attention for mental health reasons compared with 7% of other Canadians.4 Healthcare workers are not only at higher risk for injuries, work-related anxieties, and mental health problems,5 but have an additional increased risk of acquiring infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and influenza.6,7 This potential was highlighted with the advent of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and evidence of its occupational transmission.8
During the SARS outbreak, widely divergent opinions on the adequacy of facial protection emerged within the healthcare community, ranging from the view that N-95 respirators were unnecessary for agents mainly spread through droplets to the belief that higher levels of protection (eg, powered air-purifying respirators) were required to adequately protect HCWs under all circumstances. (An N-95 respirator is one of nine types of disposable particulate respirators and are approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The N indicates that the respirator provides no protection against oils and the 95 indicates that it removes at least 95% of airborne particles during “worst case” testing using a “most-penetrating”-sized particle.) The science behind respirator selection and use was also a contentious issue as was the need for fit testing. Similarly, there were conflicting views regarding protective eyewear and expert opinion varied as to the need for safety glasses versus splash goggles or face shields.
Vancouver was one of the cities in which SARS appeared in Canada. During the course of the outbreak, three individuals arrived in Vancouver from Hong Kong with SARS and one nurse developed SARS as a result of occupational exposure. In light of the intense local interest in the disease and because of the close working relationships that developed through the work of the BC Provincial SARS Committee,9 a unique interdisciplinary team of researchers based in Vancouver undertook a review of the relevant literature on facial protection. The team included experts in occupational medicine, occupational hygiene, infection control, public health, epidemiology, and respiratory therapy, as well as a clinical staff and other frontline care providers. Efforts were coordinated by the Occupational Health and Safety Agency for Healthcare (OHSAH), a unique agency jointly governed by the healthcare unions and health employers in BC.1 The objective was to synthesize the existing knowledge and identify knowledge gaps needed to prevent occupational respiratory disease transmission in HCWs.
TL;DR: The prevalence of pain and its impact on those with the condition combine to make it an area of much opportunity for improving workforce health and productivity.
Abstract: Objective:The objective of this study was to examine the burden of pain on employee health and productivity at a Fortune 100 company headquartered in the northeastern United States to prioritize target areas for reducing this burden.Methods:An electronic survey was conducted in late 2004, which prod
TL;DR: Positive work-related recovery expectations predicted a 26% faster suspension of time-loss benefits and explained 7% of the variation in this outcome, which provides important information for predicting time to return-to-work.
Abstract: Objective:We examined the association between work-related recovery expectations and return-to-work in patients with chronic back pain.Methods:A prospective cohort of workers receiving time-loss benefits for back pain of at least 6 weeks’ duration was studied. Workers completed a battery of measures
TL;DR: Significant predictors for CTS include a higher baseline median-ulnar peak latency difference, history of wrist/hand/finger tendonitis, History of diabetes, nonneutral wrist and elbow postures, and a lower self-reported social support.
Abstract: Objectives:This study defined the incidence rate of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) among active assembly workers and evaluated risk factors.Methods:This study followed 189 automobile assembly workers over 1 year. Incident cases were defined as workers who had no current or prior history of CTS and wer
TL;DR: The work environment was characterized and factors that influence the occupational health of dental hygienists were identified, finding that musculoskeletal symptoms are common and common, particularly after 10 years.
Abstract: Objective:We sought to characterize the work environment and identify factors that influence the occupational health of dental hygienists.Methods:We conducted a qualitative analysis of dental hygiene work based on five national focus groups.Results:We found that musculoskeletal symptoms are common,