Industrial Health最新文献

The association between doctors' long working hours and the seriousness of adverse events with high patient impact has not been fully confirmed. Most previous studies were based on work hour regulations using more than 80 hours per week as an indicator of long working hours. We aimed to assess the association using a shorter indicator as the cut-off for long working hours among hospital doctors including senior doctors. This cross-sectional study used 12,245 adverse event reports from the Japan Council for Quality Health Care. We defined long working hours as 55 hours or more in the week before the adverse event and assessed the association with the seriousness of adverse events with high patient impact. The results showed that doctors working 55 or more hours in the preceding week were more likely to be involved in serious adverse events than those working fewer hours (odds ratio (OR) 1.22, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.12-1.32). This association remained significant after adjusting for all covariates (OR 1.18, 95% CI: 1.08-1.28). Senior doctors were more likely to be involved in serious adverse events. Long working hours among doctors were associated with the seriousness of adverse events.

Presenteeism, among desk workers with pain can be affected by musculoskeletal disabilities (MSDs), working styles, and gender. In this study, teleworkers were defined as those who teleworked >70% of the time at home, while others were defined as non-full teleworkers. This study aimed to (1) compare the magnitude of presenteeism among four groups: male and female teleworkers with pain and male and female non-full teleworkers with pain, and (2) create a regression model of presenteeism with 66 independent biopsychosocial variables for each group. Data were collected through an anonymous online survey. Presenteeism was evaluated using the work functioning impairment scale. The 66 independent biopsychosocial variables included four disability measures, namely, stiff neck/shoulders, low back pain, and upper or lower limb problems, along with other factors relevant to presenteeism in previous studies, such as age, body mass index, comorbidities, work-related variables, pain catastrophizing, and various psychological distress measures. Data from 1068 male non-full teleworkers, 1,043 female non-full teleworkers, 282 male teleworkers, and 307 female teleworkers were analyzed. Presenteeism was the highest among female teleworkers with pain. Furthermore, in all models, overall psychological distress, rather than the four MSD measures, was the primary contributing factor for presenteeism.

Worker psychological health is a significant global imperative which requires national policy action and stakeholder engagement. While national policy is a critical lever for improving worker psychological health, some countries are more progressive than others in relation to policy development and/or implementation. At the Joint Congress of the International Commission on Occupational Health, Scientific Committee on Work Organization and Psychosocial Factors and the Asia Pacific Academy for Psychosocial Factors Work in Tokyo (September 2023), a Global Roundtable was designed to initiate international dialogue and knowledge exchange regarding relevant national policy approaches. The Global Roundtable involved experts from diverse regions alongside an engaged audience of congress attendees and facilitators. Qualitative data were analysed against the five components of the National Policy Index tool, comprising policy priority, specific laws, nation-wide initiatives, sector-oriented initiatives, national survey and/or studies. Analysis revealed that while work-related psychological health is a policy priority across many countries, at the same time, there are global gaps in both legislation specificity and active regulation across different countries. For future policy development across countries, it will be beneficial to continue and deepen international discourse and for countries to share their approaches with others.

We investigated the relationship between shift work and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) among participants in the Japan Nurses' Health Study (JNHS). Responses of 9,728 female nurses to the 6th follow-up questionnaire were cross-sectionally analyzed. EDS was defined as an Epworth Sleepiness Scale score ≥11. EDS-associated factors were evaluated using Poisson regression analysis after adjustment for multiple confounders. Of the participants (mean age, 52.2 ± 8.0 yr), 28.7% were engaged in shift work, and the overall prevalence of EDS was 24.6%. EDS-associated factors were investigated separately in women aged <40 yr (n=250), 40-59 yr (n=7,467), and ≥60 yr (n=2,011). Current engagement in shift work (prevalence ratio: 1.92 [95% confidence interval: 1.20-3.06], compared with no experience of shift work) and obesity (2.08 [1.11-3.88] for BMI ≥30 and 1.39 [1.02-1.90] for BMI of 25.0-30.0, compared with BMI of 18.5-25.0) showed an independent association with EDS in women aged ≥60 yr. The effect of shift work on EDS in female nurses differed by age, as shift work and obesity contributed to EDS only in older participants. Shift work should be assigned after full consideration of age, sleep, and health status to minimize medical errors.

Librarians at a university had planned to check the collection prior to the library renovations that began in 2015. They had previous knowledge of the presence of a light greyish-white powder with an unpleasant odour (hereinafter referred to as 'powder') sprinkled between the pages of antiquarian books in the library archive. The purpose of this study was to identify this powder with the help of experts from both inside and outside the university. The powder was qualitatively analysed using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry after hexane extraction. The powder was examined under a polarised light microscope and a field-emission scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer. Benzene hexachloride (BHC) was detected in the powder. Talc was the most abundant particle in the powder. The powder also contained 0.52 wt% asbestos, which belonged to the tremolite-actinolite series. No other types of asbestos were detected. The powder was presumed to be a bulking agent for BHC, and its major constituent was talc. This is the first report on asbestos-containing insecticides.

Mine industry workers (n=515) from various locations in Australia completed a questionnaire to assess the prevalence of symptoms associated with heat-related illness and water consumption habits during a summer season. Participants read from a pre-defined list and noted any heat-related symptoms that they had experienced. The most prevalent symptoms experienced were fatigue, headache, sweating, and dark coloured urine, with 77% of respondents reporting at least one symptom. Workers with shorter employment durations had higher rates of reporting multiple symptoms (rates ratios: 1.40-1.72). The most prevalent water consumption amounts over an 11-12 h shift were 2-4 L by 37.3% of total respondents, followed by 1-2 L by 36.5% of respondents. Employers should inform workers about the severe implications of heat-related illnesses, implement regular water breaks, and educate personnel about the importance of water intake. Providing employees with self-check methods of hydration status is recommended to increase awareness of their hydration status.

This study conducted an interview-based stress evaluation that considered the psychosocial models of work stress and verified the evaluation's predictive validity. A four-stage assessment comprising a pre-survey, pre-interview questionnaire, stress assessment interview, and post-survey after one month was conducted with 50 Japanese workers. Additionally, 16 occupational health professionals provided stress evaluations based on recorded interview videos. Variables based on intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were computed in multiple ways to compare the agreement among the evaluators. The generalized estimating equation (GEE) was conducted to evaluate the prediction models. The overall ICC among the evaluators was 0.58. The GEE revealed that the mean score of the evaluators in the interview-based stress evaluation significantly predicted psychological symptoms (β =2.02, p=0.019), burnout (β =0.77, p<0.001), and well-being (β =-0.64, p=0.007) one month later, even after adjusting for the self-reported stress levels measured in the pre-survey. The predictive validity of the proposed interview-based stress evaluation was confirmed. Although there are several challenges in standardizing this evaluation, semi-structured interviews are an effective tool for understanding work stress.

This cross-sectional study investigated the association between different types of physical activity (PA) and occupational psychological and physical stress responses among workers in Japan. Stress responses were assessed using the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire. Work-related PA (time spent sitting, sitting bouts, standing, walking, engaging in heavy labor, and moderate-to-vigorous PA [MVPA]) and exercise-based PA (frequencies [times/week] of flexibility and muscle-strengthening activity, and walking) were measured using a questionnaire. Multiple linear regression was performed to examine the association between each type of PA and stress responses. Participants who engaged in >108 min/day of work-related MVPA exhibited a statistically significant association with higher psychological stress responses when compared to those who engaged in 0-42 min/day of work-related MVPA. For exercise-based PA, participants who engaged in flexibility activity or walking five or more times/week, or muscle-strengthening activity one to three times/week, demonstrated significantly lower psychological stress responses compared to those who did not exercise. Participants who engaged in flexibility activity five or more times/week demonstrated significantly lower physical stress responses compared to those who did not exercise. This study suggests that work-related MVPA is associated with higher psychological stress responses, while exercise-based PA is associated with lower psychological or physical stress responses.

This study aims to determine the factors that encourage older workers to continue working. This study had an exploratory sequential design using a mixed-methods approach, including interviews and questionnaire surveys. In the interview survey, we targeted 30 workers aged between 60-65 across three manufacturing companies. After using the results of the content analysis in the interviews, we conducted an online questionnaire survey with 1,500 workers aged between 60-89 across the country. We analyzed whether the 15 factors were related to intention to continue working using logistic regression analysis. We identified factors affecting job continuity from three perspectives: individual, company, and life. We determined several factors: health condition, job performance, self-esteem, conservatism, employment system, workload, medical insurance and welfare programs, monetary and non-monetary rewards, relationships, attachment to the organization, distance between living and work, social support, economic situation, and employment policy. In the questionnaire survey, some factors had no relationship with job continuity, including conservatism, employment systems, monetary rewards, and the distance between living and work. Employers and policymakers can use the findings to consider appropriate ways of supporting older workers.