Objectives: Industrial advances, as a result of globalization, causes many threats to the working life. These threats are generally associated with the level of economic development of countries. While threats from industrialization are decreasing in developed countries, developing countries are still faced with these threats. Therefore, this study aims to examine the relationship between fatal work accidents (FWA), and independent variables which are national income (NI) and employment rate (ER) in a number of selected countries.

Methods: In this study the relationship between FWA and independent variables which are NI and ER of 18 developed and developing countries and a region, between 2006 and 2015, was analyzed by applying panel data analysis.

Results: According to panel data analysis, whilst a 1% increase in the NI reduces the FWA rate by 1.1%, a 1% increase in the ER results in an increase of approximately 4% in the rate of FWA.

Conclusions: As a result, there was a negative relationship between the FWA and NI growth and a positive relationship with the ER

Objectives: Chronic low back pain (LBP) is known to cause various disorders compared with acute LBP. However, there was no study evaluating presenteeism due to LBP divided into subcategories by the duration of LBP. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the relationship between acute or chronic LBP and presenteeism in hospital nursing staff.

Methods: Overall, 1100 nurses filled in a questionnaire on basic attributes, LBP symptoms, depression symptoms, and work productivity. The subjects were divided into three groups based on the period of LBP and the compared work productivity. Work Limitation Questionnaire Japanese version (WLQ-J) was used for the assessment of work productivity. The effects of acute and chronic LBP on presenteeism were evaluated through multiple regression analysis models.

Results: In total, 765 subjects, without missing values, were included. The overall prevalence of LBP was 64.6% (acute LBP 47.5%, chronic LBP 17.1%). On multiple regression analysis, acute pain and presenteeism were not associated. Conversely, chronic LBP was associated with time management (adjusted β = −2.3, 95% CI: −4.5 to −1.1), mental-interpersonal relationship (adjusted β = −2.8, 95% CI: −5.1 to −0.6), and output (adjusted β = −2.7, 95% CI: −5.4 to 0.0) after adjustment for sex and career years. When depression was included in the adjustment factors, chronic LBP and WLQ subscales were not associated.

Conclusions: It became obvious that Chronic LBP in nurses was significantly related to time management, mental-interpersonal relationship, and output. The importance of preventing a decline in work productivity by taking precautions to prevent chronic LBP and depression was suggested.

Objectives: Dentists may have a higher risk of developing lumbar herniated intervertebral disc (HIVD) due to prolonged sitting and improper postures during work. We conducted this study to delineate this issue, which is still unclear.

Methods: This nationwide population-based study was conducted using Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. We identified 10 734 dentists, 72 066 non-dentist health-care providers (HCPs), and an identical number of age- and gender-matched participants from the general population. The risk of developing lumbar HIVD among dentists, non-dentist HCPs, and general population was compared by tracing their medical histories between 2007 and 2011.

Results: The cumulative incidence rate of lumbar HIVD among dentists during the 5-year follow-up period was 1.40%. After adjusting for age, gender, and comorbidities, the risk of developing lumbar HIVD was found to be lower among dentists than that among the general population (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 0.80, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.64-1.00) and non-dentist HCPs (AOR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.68-0.96).

Conclusions: Dentists in Taiwan have a lower risk of developing lumbar HIVD than that among other occupations. Although this result is different from the general cognition, it does not imply that the prevention of lumbar HIVD in dentists is not important. Further studies are warranted to better address this issue.

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify subpopulations vulnerable to skin cancer by occupations, among individuals with Fitzpatrick skin types III and IV.

Methods: Data were retrieved from the national mortality registry of Korean National Statistical Office (KNSO) from 1993 to 2012, including all medical certificates of death written and confirmed by physicians. Medical certificates of death from 1993 to 2012 were obtained from the national mortality registry of Korean National Statistical Office. These completed medical certificates are verified by the Korean Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs and formatted using 103 main and 236 specific causes of death as recommended by the World Health Organization. We calculated direct standardized mortality rate and standardized mortality ratio (SMR) using the indirect standardization method. The entire population as reflected in the 2005 national census was used as a reference population.

Results: Of 594 deaths from skin cancer, 227 (38.2%) were from non-melanotic skin cancer (NMSC) and 367 (61.8%) from cutaneous melanoma (CM). Compared to office workers, agriculture/fishery/forestry workers had significantly higher SMRs for NMSC in men [SMR: 461, 95% confidential interval (CI): 329-583] and women (SMR: 575, 95% CI: 317-864). SMR was also increased in men who worked in exposed area (SMR of NMSC:553, 95% CI:222-1018, SMR of CM:453, 95% CI: 133-1009).

Conclusion: This is the first Asian study to suggest that agriculture/fishery/forestry workers have increased SMRs for NMSC and CM in exposed areas. Early diagnosis of skin cancer in this group is important.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to study measurement properties of the Dutch Language Version of the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS-DLV) in blue and white collar workers employed at multiple companies and to compare the validity and factor structure to other language versions.

Methods: Workers (n = 1023) were assessed during a cross-sectional health surveillance. Construct validity was tested with exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA and CFA) and hypothesis testing. Reliability was tested with Cronbach's alpha.

Results: A two-factor structure of the BRS-DLV had good model fit in both EFA and CFA, which could be explained by difficulties of workers with reversed order items. After excluding these inconsistent answering patterns, a one-factor structure showed good model fit resembling the original BRS (χ² = 16.5; CFI & TLI = 0.99; SRMR = 0.02;RMSEA = 0.04). Internal consistency is sufficient (Cronbach's α = 0.78). All five hypotheses were confirmed, suggesting construct validity.

Conclusions: Reliability of the BRS-DLV is sufficient and there is evidence of construct validity. Inconsistent answering, however, caused problems in interpretation and factor structure of the BRS-DLV. This can be easily detected and handled because item 2, 4 and 6 are in reversed order. Other language versions differ in factor structure, most likely because systematic errors are not corrected for. To collect valid data, it is advised to be aware of inconsistent answering of respondents.

Background: We established a causal relationship between indium exposure and lung interstitial and emphysematous effects. Lung cancer has been clearly demonstrated in rats and mice exposed to indium phosphide and in rats exposed to indium tin oxide. However, no information is available on human indium-related lung cancer.

Methods: The baseline studies were conducted on 381 indium-exposed and 150 referent workers in 11 factories from 2003 to 2006. Items examined included indium concentration in serum (In-S), occupational history, Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6), chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), medical history, smoking habits, and subjective symptoms. Subjects received follow-up health checkups, and a total of 220 indium-exposed and 26 nonexposed workers were examined at least once with chest HRCT from 2013 to 2018.

Results: Four lung cancer cases were identified only in indium-exposed workers. Two were prevalent cases and two were incident cases. The averages (range) of age (years), exposure duration (years), In-S (μg/L), and KL-6 (U/mL) at the baseline survey were 58 (50-74), 1.7 (0.3-4.8), 3.1 (0.3-9.7), and 663 (414-942). The mean (range) latency from initial indium exposure was 5.3 (0.4-11) years. The HRCT findings in two incident cases were mild interstitial/emphysematous change and mild interstitial change. The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of the incident cases was 1.89 (95%CI 0.52-6.88).

Conclusions: Although the SIR was not statistically significant, there was an undeniable possibility of indium-related lung cancer due to the short follow-up duration being insufficient to disclose lung cancer and the small number of lung cancer cases. Further follow-up is necessary.

Aim: Our recent case report of organotin intoxication showed higher ratio of urinary trimethyl tin (TMT) to dimethyl tin (DMT) than those of the previous cases exposed to only DMT, suggesting co-exposure to DMT and TMT occurred. The present study investigated how urinary TMT and DMT reflect blood TMT and DMT, respectively, to evaluate them as biomarkers for TMT/DMT exposure.

Methods: DMT and TMT from blood collected at different time points from three patients intoxicated with organotins were measured with HPLC-ICP/MS. Previously published data of urinary DMT and TMT were used for comparison. Regression analyses were conducted with dependent variable of blood DMT and TMT and independent variable of urinary DMT and TMT, respectively. Multiple regression analysis with dummy variables of individual was also conducted.

Results: Regression analysis did not show significant relation of urinary TMT to blood TMT or relation of urinary DMT to blood DMT, although the former was marginal. Multiple regression analysis showed significantly positive relation of urinary TMT to blood TMT.

Conclusions: The study shows that urinary TMT reflects blood TMT. In co-exposure to TMT and DMT, urinary TMT can be an internal exposure marker of TMT, which might be not only derived from external exposure to TMT but also converted from DMT in human body.