Journal of Occupational Health
Online ISSN : 1348-9585
Print ISSN : 1341-9145
ISSN-L : 1341-9145
Volume 52, Issue 5
Displaying 1-8 of 8 articles from this issue
Review
  • Marcus Oldenburg, Xaver Baur, Clara Schlaich
    Article type: Review
    2010 Volume 52 Issue 5 Pages 249-256
    Published: 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: October 07, 2010
    Advance online publication: July 22, 2010
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Seafarers are exposed to a high diversity of occupational health hazards onboard ships. Objective: The aim of this article is to present a survey of the current, most important hazards in seafaring including recommendations on measures how to deal with these problems. Methods: The review is based on maritime expert opinions as well a PubMed analysis related to the occupational risks of seafaring. Results: Despite recent advances in injury prevention, accidents due to harmful working and living conditions at sea and of non-observance of safety rules remain a main cause of injury and death. Mortality in seafaring from cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is mainly caused by increased risks and impaired treatment options of CVD at sea. Further, shipboard stress and high demand may lead to fatigue and isolation which have an impact on the health of onboard seafarers. Communicable diseases in seafaring remain an occupational problem. Exposures to hazardous substances and UV-light are important health risks onboard ships. Because of harsh working conditions onboard including environmental conditions, sufficient recreational activities are needed for the seafarers' compensation both onboard and ashore. However, in reality there is often a lack of leisure time possibilities. Discussion: Seafaring is still an occupation with specific work-related risks. Thus, a further reduction of occupational hazards aboard ships is needed and poses a challenge for maritime health specialists and stakeholders. Nowadays, maritime medicine encompasses a broad field of workplaces with different job-related challenges.
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Original
  • Weixian Xu, Juan Hang, Tingting Cao, Rong Shi, Wenshuang Zeng, Yuanfei ...
    Article type: Original
    2010 Volume 52 Issue 5 Pages 257-262
    Published: 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: October 07, 2010
    Advance online publication: July 02, 2010
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Objectives: Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) can be used as a surrogate marker for cardiovascular health, and job stress is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, there have been a limited number of studies focusing on the association between job stress and CIMT. The goal of this study was to explore the association between job stress and CIMT in a Chinese working population. Methods: The study included 734 participants (508 males and 226 females) without coronary heart disease. Job stress was evaluated using the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) questionnaire at work. ERI is the ratio between efforts and rewards (weighted by number of items). High resolution carotid ultrasonographic studies were performed using a Sequoia 512 ultrasound system with an 8-13 MHz linear array transducer to assess CIMT. Results: This study detected gender-specific associations between the indictors of the ERI model and increased CIMT among the study participants in China. This study demonstrated a robust association in women between the key indicators of ERI, effort, overcommitment and ERI, and increased CIMT (adjusted r2=0.258, p=0.001; adjusted r2=0.261; p<0.001; adjusted r2=0.274; p<0.001, respectively). Reward was inversely correlated with CIMT (adjusted r2=0.282, p<0.001), controlling for age, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidaemia and body mass index. For men, a similar pattern of associations was observed, but the associations were lost after adjustment for confounders. Conclusions: Our results show that effort, overcommitment and ERI may be associated with early atherosclerosis predicted by CIMT in women, and reward is inversely related to CIMT.
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  • Lise Tevik Løvseth, Olaf Gjerløw Aasland, Ann Fridner, L ...
    Article type: Original
    2010 Volume 52 Issue 5 Pages 263-271
    Published: 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: October 07, 2010
    Advance online publication: July 12, 2010
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Objective: To investigate how the subjective burden of confidentiality can act as a stressor that affects physicians' psychological health and wellbeing. Method: Cross-sectional survey data from a sample of university hospital physicians (N=1,956) in four European countries (Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Italy) who participated in the HOUPE (Health and Organization among University hospital Physicians in Europe) study was analysed. Results: About 25% of the participants reported that confidentiality impedes emotional support to a considerable degree. An index of confidentiality as a barrier to seeking support (ICBS) had a negative effect on physicians' health and wellbeing. The effect of ICBS was confirmed and slightly increased when controlled for variables known to buffer the adverse mental and physical effects of stress. Though the physicians in Iceland and in Norway found confidentiality the most challenging, it was the physicians in Italy and Sweden who showed a significant effect of ICBS on their health and wellbeing. Conclusions: Whether confidentiality is a stressor in its own right or an amplifier of stressful situations in medical practice should be further investigated to gain a better understanding of the effect of confidentiality on physicians' coping, stress and health. In addition, there is a need to investigate how physicians can balance coping with the inevitable emotional demands of medical practice and maintaining the ethics of confidentiality in a way that protects both patients' privacy rights and physicians' health and wellbeing.
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  • Xiaorong Wang, Mianzhen Wang, Hong Qiu, Ignatius Yu, Eiji Yano
    Article type: Original
    2010 Volume 52 Issue 5 Pages 272-277
    Published: 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: October 07, 2010
    Advance online publication: July 29, 2010
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Objective: To observe the longitudinal changes in pulmonary function associated with exposure to asbestos in a group of highly exposed workers. Methods: Pulmonary diffusing capacity (DLco) and spirometry of 243 Chinese asbestos workers were measured and remeasured after 5 and 10 yr. Their annual changes in relation to cumulative asbestos exposure and asbestosis were determined using multivariate analysis. Results: The greatest annual decline was observed in DLco, particularly in workers with asbestosis, followed by FVC and FEV1. A greater decline in DLco accorded with a higher level of cumulative asbestos exposure. A similar trend was also seen in FVC, in which the highest exposure level was associated with 223 ml loss over each 5 yr period or 45 ml/yr. Conclusions: There were substantial declines in DLco and FVC over time in the asbestos workers, and a dose-response trend between asbestos exposure and accelerating functional loss.
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  • Tsutomu Odahara, Masataka Irokawa, Hiroshi Karasawa, Shinya Matsuda
    Article type: Original
    2010 Volume 52 Issue 5 Pages 278-286
    Published: 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: October 07, 2010
    Advance online publication: August 06, 2010
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Objective: To assess the usefulness of the Laboratory of Physical Science (LOPS) protocol for detecting exaggerated blood pressure (BP) response as a risk factor for future hypertension when controlling for work and personal factors. Methods: Subjects were 815 healthy normotensive men (mean age, 43.1 ± 6.76 yr; range, 29-64 yr) who participated in the LOPS protocol, a graded 4-stage exercise test undertaken for the measurement of 40-70% of maximum oxygen consumption. A hypertensive response was defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 250 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of 120 mmHg during the exercise test. Results: New-onset hypertension or the initiation of antihypertensive drug treatment had occurred in 108 men (13.3%) after 7 yr of follow-up. Cox proportional survival analysis revealed significantly increased risks of developing hypertension were associated with exaggerated BP response to exercise (hazard ratio, 2.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.4-3.7) and higher frequency of business trips (hazard ratio, 1.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.2-2.5) after multivariable adjustments for work and personal-related risk factors. Conclusions: These results suggest that the LOPS protocol is effective for detecting exaggerated BP response as a risk factor for future hypertension when controlling for work and personal-related risk factors. Exaggerated BP response to exercise and higher frequency of business trips are risk factors for developing future hypertension.
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Field Study
  • Jiro Takaki, Akizumi Tsutsumi, Hirohiko Irimajiri, Asako Hayama, Yuri ...
    Article type: Field Study
    2010 Volume 52 Issue 5 Pages 287-293
    Published: 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: October 07, 2010
    Advance online publication: August 03, 2010
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the health-protecting effects of feeling useful to others on symptoms of depression and sleep disturbance in the workplace, as well as its buffering effects on associations between stressful work environments and symptoms of depression and sleep disturbance. Methods: The subjects of this cross-sectional survey were 773 Japanese workers (response rate: 64.8%) of five organizations. Feelings of being useful to others were assessed with one simple question used in a previous study. Psychosocial work environment, sleep disturbance, and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Japanese versions of the Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and the 28-item General Health Questionnaire, respectively. We tested for linear and interactive effects with hierarchical regression analyses. Results: Feeling useful to others was significantly (p<0.05) and negatively associated with scores of depression and sleep disturbance both in the univariate analyses and after adjusting for age in both genders. Significant (p<0.05) interactions showed that, in both genders, as the effort-reward balance worsened, symptoms of depression increased, but feeling useful to others buffered the associations. Conclusions: The results support the notion that feeling useful to others in both genders in the workplace has possible health-protecting effects.
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  • Nlandu Roger Ngatu, Shun Suzuki, Yukinori Kusaka, Hisao Shida, Masanor ...
    Article type: Field Study
    2010 Volume 52 Issue 5 Pages 294-301
    Published: 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: October 07, 2010
    Advance online publication: August 06, 2010
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Objective: Occupational lung diseases have specific radiographic manifestations not always well known by physicians. In Japan, asbestos-related diseases became a public health concern after the "Kubota Shock", when a number of workers and residents living nearby a manufacturer of asbestos-made ducts developed mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure. This preliminary intervention trial evaluated the effect of two-hour training on inexperienced physicians' skill in interpreting pneumoconiotic chest radiographs. Methods: One hundred-two Japanese physicians participated in two reading-tests, using 12 radiographs, before and after the two-hour training with ILO/ICRP and Japan Pneumoconioses Study Group (JPSG) reading materials. Physicians had to check for the presence or absence of small opacity and pleural plaque consistent with pneumoconiosis. Sensitivity and specificity equal or greater than 70% were considered good, 50 to 69% acceptable and less than 50%, poor. Results: Post-training improvements in physicians' skills were seen. For small opacity, there was an increase in the proportion of physicians with good specificity, from 42% to 60%. For pleural plaque, the proportion of physicians with good specificity and good sensitivity increased, from 60% to 67% and from 18% to 25%, respectively. Also, significant improvements were observed in overall sensitivity for pleural plaque, from 46% to 60% (p<0.0001), and specificity for small opacity, from 65% to 73% (p<0.0001). Conclusions: This study showed that two-hour participatory training may enhance physicians' skill in interpreting pneumoconiotic chest radiographs. There are countries without any pneumoconiosis screening program despite the WHO/ILO call for worldwide cooperation in eliminating it. Although the two-hour course cannot replace the five-day ILO workshop, such a program would be useful in areas with environmental or occupational exposure to dust.
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  • Romualdas Malinauskas, Vilija Malinauskiene, Audrone Dumciene
    Article type: Field Study
    2010 Volume 52 Issue 5 Pages 302-307
    Published: 2010
    Released on J-STAGE: October 07, 2010
    Advance online publication: August 06, 2010
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Objective: To investigate the associations between burnout, gender, working experience and perceived stress among university coaches in Lithuania. Methods: A random sample of university coaches (N=203) was investigated (136 male and 67 female coaches; 131 coaches, with 10 yr or more work experience, and 72 coaches with less than 10 yr job experience). Two questionnaires-the Coach Burnout Questionnaire (CBQ) and Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10)-were used. The statistical hypotheses were tested by the independent samples t-test and binary logistic regression analysis. Results: Statistically significant differences at the 0.01 level for burnout among coaches with 10 yr or more (burnout average score and standard deviation 2.28 ± 0.42), and coaches, who less than 10 yr job experience (1.97 ± 0.35) were found. No differences were observed between males and females with regard to burnout. The odds ratio (OR) of perceived stress for burnout was 1.92; 95% CI 1.01-3.64. Conclusions: Significant association between burnout and job experience of 10 yr or more as compared to less than 10 yr among the university coaches was observed. High levels of perceived stress among university coaches are significantly related to burnout.
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