Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine最新文献

Background: Resilience affects the occurrence of unsafe acts, influencing occupational incidents. Understanding this impact can aid in preventing such incidents through proactive measures.

Aim: This study aims to determine the relationship between cognitive resilience and cognitive failures, leading to unsafe acts.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 173 construction workers employed in a petrochemical sector in Asaluyeh, Iran. The Unsafe Act questionnaire and Connor-Davidson resilience scale were utilized to collect data. Correlation analysis was used to interpret the results. The Pearson correlation test and ANOVA were employed to explore the relationships between cognitive resilience, unsafe acts, and cognitive failures.

Results: The analysis revealed a high prevalence of unsafe acts, potentially compromising safety, alongside moderate levels of cognitive resilience among workers. A strong negative correlation was found between total resilience scores and unsafe acts (r = -0.701, P value < 0.001). Additionally, education level, near-miss history, and accidents, leading to absenteeism, were significantly related to cognitive resilience and unsafe acts (P value < 0.001).

Conclusion: Enhancing cognitive resilience in construction workers significantly reduces unsafe acts. Given the strong correlation, training programs to boost cognitive resilience should be implemented within organizational instructions to enhance job security and reduce unsafe acts.

Background: Oncology units within specialized and high-stress hospital settings create significant emotional and psychological stress in nurses, which can affect their quality of work life (QWL). This study aimed to determine the correlation between QWL and caring nurse-patient interactions with burnout among oncology nurses.

Methods and materials: In this correlational study, 200 oncology nurses were selected using convenience sampling. Data collection scales included the valid and reliable Maslach Burnout Inventory, the caring nurse-patient interaction questionnaire, and Brook's Quality of Nursing Work Life Questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS₂₀ software.

Results: The results showed an inverse and significant linear relationship between QWL and caring nurse-patient interactions with burnout among oncology nurses. In addition, there was a direct and significant linear relationship between QWL and nurse-patient care interactions.

Conclusion: Considering the significant relationship between QWL and nurse-patient care interactions with a burnout in nurses, it seems that, according to the special mental atmosphere of oncology departments, it is necessary to have a written plan to reduce burnout in nurses.

Background: Sleep duration disorders impact the quality of life and energy expenditure in workers. However, there is a lack of understanding about the relationship between sleep duration and energy expenditure at work among motorcycle taxi drivers.

Aims: To analyze the relationship between sleep duration and energy expenditure at work in motorcycle taxi drivers.

Settings and design: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 296 male motorcycle taxi drivers from Rio Branco City, western Brazilian Amazon. Methods and Material: The motorcycle taxi driver reported the number of hours daily spent sleeping on a typical day during the week. Uncorrected and corrected energy expenditures of motorcycle taxi drivers during the working day were calculated according to the 2011 Physical Activity Compendium. The metabolic equivalent (MET) was corrected for the basal metabolic rate using the equation proposed by Harris and Benedict.

Statistical analysis: The relationship between sleep duration and energy expenditure at work was analyzed using fractional polynomial regression.

Results: The mean sleep duration in hours was 7.4 (SD: 1.4). There was a relationship between sleep duration and corrected energy expenditure at work, with a first-degree logarithmic transformation. The nonlinear relationship between sleep duration and uncorrected energy expenditure at work was a fractional polynomial with a power of -0.5 for the first degree.

Conclusions: The results suggest a nonlinear relationship between sleep duration and energy expenditure at work among motorcycle taxi drivers. Motorcycle taxi drivers with short sleep durations had high energy expenditures at work.

Background: There is a global rise in cardiovascular diseases (CVD), particularly among the current generation of young adults, including the health professionals. Factors such as poor lifestyle choices, inadequate nutrition, sedentary work, and prolonged working hours contribute to occupational stress.

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of CVD risk factors in young healthcare workers aged 25-40 and assess their 10-year CVD risk using the QRISK 3 prediction algorithm.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 248 health workers aged 25-40 years in a tertiary care hospital in Pondicherry. Data collected include questionnaire responses for the QRISK 3 algorithm, weight, height, and two SBP readings on two different days, and blood samples for HDL-c, Fasting glucose, and Total cholesterol level.

Result: Nearly 26.6% of the participants had high body mass index (BMI), 5.24% had diabetes mellitus, 16.12% had hypertension, 25.4% were found with hyperlipidemia, 6.3% had a history of light smoking, and 47.5% had a family history of CVD. Most of the risk factors except hypertension and low HDL-c showed female preponderance. Despite the high prevalence, the mean QRISK score of a 10-year risk of getting CVD among young healthcare workers is less, which is only 1.3%.

Conclusion: Though the prevalence of major risk factors is high among healthcare workers other risk factors that the QRISK 3 algorithm takes into consideration were very low among the participants. The higher prevalence of metabolic risk factors emphasizes the need for the change in lifestyle behaviors of participants.

Introduction: The rapid growth in the food delivery industry, driven by changing consumer habits and technology, has created job opportunities for gig riders, including food delivery riders.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and burnout and assess the associated factors among app-based food delivery riders in Tamil Nadu.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 425 app-based male food delivery riders in Tamil Nadu. The data were collected from June to July 2023 using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2), and Oldenburg Inventory Burnout (OLBI) Scale to estimate the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and burnout, respectively.

Results: The prevalence of low/medium and high burnout was 89.2% and 10.8%, respectively; the prevalence of moderate and moderate-severe/severe anxiety was 23.7% and 12.5%, respectively; and the prevalence of moderate and moderate-severe/severe depression was 26.8% and 16.2%, respectively. The multivariate logistic regression showed that monthly income (AOR 2.57) and severe depression (AOR 2.87) are significantly associated with burnout. Monthly income (AOR 3.18), burnout (AOR 2.52), and severe depression (AOR 7.35) are significantly associated with anxiety. Similarly, dehydration (AOR 3.16), place of work (AOR 3.18), burnout (AOR 2.57), and severe anxiety (AOR 6.87) are significantly associated with depression.

Conclusions: The study underscores the urgent need for industry-wide interventions and support strategies to address the mental well-being of food delivery riders.

Introduction: Workplace violence (WPV) against healthcare professionals in India is alarmingly high, exceeding global averages, with emergency departments and intensive care units being high-risk areas. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of WPV among doctors, evaluate reporting practices, assess its psychosocial impact, and evaluate existing prevention measures.

Methodology: A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire distributed via Google Forms through snowball sampling. The questionnaire, validated for content, included demographic information, details of WPV encountered in the past 12 months, its consequences, reporting practices, and mitigation strategies. Statistical analysis, including descriptive statistics and Spearman rank correlation, was performed using SPSS version 19.

Results: Out of 658 respondents, 60.9% reported experiencing WPV, predominantly verbal abuse. Perpetrators were mainly patients' visitors, and common causes included dissatisfaction with services and poor communication. Night hours, operation theatres, ICUs, and emergency rooms were high-risk locations. A significant portion (48%) did not report incidents due to perceived inaction and lack of organizational support. WPV negatively impacted psychosocial well-being in over half of the affected doctors. Deficiencies in training and grievance redressal systems were reported, with a strong recommendation for communication skills training.

Conclusion: WPV is highly prevalent among Indian doctors, with verbal abuse being the most common form. Poor communication and lack of reporting mechanisms exacerbate the issue. Integrating communication training into medical curricula and establishing robust reporting systems are crucial for mitigating WPV and supporting healthcare professionals.

Background: Work-related stress in healthcare professionals can negatively affect the quality of healthcare delivered, particularly in high-stress environments like the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU).

Objectives: We examined the prevalence of work stress and common stressors among healthcare providers in the NICU.

Method: Consenting NICU healthcare providers across eight NICUs in Karnataka State participated in the study. Stress and psychological distress were examined using the Tool to Assess and Classify Work-Related Stress (TAWS-16) and the Kessler Psychological Distress (K10).

Results: Among 171 participants, the prevalence of work stress was 32.7%, with 19.3% reporting stress symptoms and 38.6% experiencing psychological distress. Key stressors included meeting deadlines (80.7%), performing multiple roles (69.6%), long hours of work (60.3%), and unsatisfactory remuneration (61.4%). NICU mortality (OR = 1.13, 95% CI 1.025-1.26, P = 0.019) and being a trainee (OR = 2.33, 95% CI 1.08-5.02, P = 0.03) posed a higher risk for occupational stress.

Conclusions: Nearly one-third of healthcare professionals in NICU reported stress and psychological distress at the workplace. Study findings highlight the need to lower NICU mortality and enhance organizational support for trainee staff.

Background: The chrome tanning method is widely used in the Indian tannery industry. Workers from these tanneries are directly exposed to Cr compounds due to inadequate safety measures and knowledge.

Objective: This study aimed to examine oxidative stress and DNA damage in tannery workers in Kanpur exposed to Cr both in the workplace and outside of it in terms of health.

Methods: Blood samples were collected from the people of Jajmau, Kanpur, India. The study population was divided into three distinct categories. Group I comprised 100 individuals occupationally exposed to chromium (Cr) in tannery industries. Group II included 100 individuals who resided near tannery industries but were not occupationally exposed to Cr. Finally, Group III contained 100 healthy individuals who had never been exposed to Cr. Inductively coupled plasma‒mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to measure Cr in all blood samples. Malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) concentrations were used to quantify oxidative stress. A comet assay was used to determine the extent of DNA damage, and the lengths of comet tails in both the exposed and control groups were measured.

Results: Cr, MDA, SOD, and DNA damage levels were significantly greater in the exposed groups than in the control groups (P < 0.001), whereas GSH levels were significantly lower (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: This study's findings indicate that timely identification of the detrimental impacts of Cr on individuals employed in tanneries is highly important for mitigating health risks and minimizing exposure.

Introduction: Air pollution is one of the key global health and environmental concern. It has been ranked among top five global risk factor of mortality by health effect institute. Long-term exposure to air pollution can cause respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive airway disease. This study aims to determine lung function test parameters in traffic police personnel.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study of sample size 104 was conducted among traffic police personnel (52) and general police personnel (52) in central Karnataka. An interviewer administered questionnaire consisting of sociodemographic details, body mass index (BMI), work experience in years, and lung function parameters assessed by using spirometry was recorded. The spirometric parameters between exposed and nonexposed groups were compared by the independent T test, and the odds ratio was calculated to measure the strength of association.

Results: The mean duration of active service in the traffic police personnel was 3.8 ± 4.95 years. FEV1 was significantly lower in traffic policemen (3.08 L) as against the general policemen (3.25 L). FEF 25-75 was also lower in traffic policemen (3.27 L) as compared to general policemen (3.90 L) (P value = 0.004, CI-0.19-1.06). FEV1/FVC (%) among traffic policemen (84.9%) was lower when compared to general policemen (88.7%) (P value = 0.0011, CI-1.59 to 6.12). The odds of having small airway obstruction in traffic policemen were 4.2 times (P value = 0.001, CI-1.74 to 10.10) more than the general policemen.

Conclusion: Our study showed that the traffic policemen had significant small airway obstruction without any respiratory symptoms. Early recognition of small airway disease and prevention of further exposure by personal protective measures and administrative controls can prevent progression to severe chronic airway disease.

Purpose: All occupations are associated with stress, but defence service is significantly more stressful than others. However, there are very few studies focusing on occupational stress in the defence force in the existing literature. The present study aims to assess the prevalence of occupational stress among Non-Gazetted Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Jawans and identify the factors influencing it.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the 148^th battalion of CRPF in India, including 353 Non-Gazetted Officers as participants. The study utilized a questionnaire containing the occupational stress scale developed by Srivastava and Singh in 1984. Descriptive statistics, Chi square, and logistic regression were employed to achieve the study objectives.

Results: The study found that nearly three-fourths of the Non-Gazetted Officers experienced moderate occupational stress, while approximately 2% of officers reported high occupational stress. Factors significantly associated with stress included age at marriage, physical separation from family, insufficient time for family, involvement in hazardous activities, and additional sources of family income.

Conclusion: The study successfully met its objective of assessing the prevalence of occupational stress among Non-Gazetted CRPF Jawans and identifying the factors influencing it. These results underscore the necessity for family support programs and organizational-level interventions, such as regular counseling, improved recreational facilities, and adequate rest, to help officers alleviate stress effectively.