ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2002

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

In response to concerns about occupational and environmental exposures, and a perceived cluster of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in the community, the mortality experience among 31,811 civilian employees who worked for at least 1 year between 1981 and 2000 at Kelly Air Force Base, Texas was ascertained. A total of 3264 deaths occurred through October 31, 2001. Overall, significant deficits in mortality were observed for all causes of death and all cancers combined. An excess of breast cancer [standardized mortality ratio (SMR) = 216; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 128–341] among blue-collar women was identified, and remained elevated after adjusting for race and ethnicity [rate ratio (RR) = 2.83; 95% CI = 1.50–5.34]. Mortality from motor neuron disease, which includes ALS deaths, was not increased overall (SMR = 0.98; 95% CI = 0.52–1.68), and was lower among blue-collar employees and higher among white-collar employees than expected, based on small numbers. Overall, mortality patterns indicated a healthy worker population and no large increased mortality associated with employment at Kelly Air Force Base.

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2002

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This study examined the possible relationship between Karasek’s job strain model and blood coagulation factors VII and VIII as risk factors for cardiovascular disease in Korean male workers. Based on the postulation of the model, we invited 160 male workers (40 people each subgroup) using a stratified sampling from the base population (n = 1071). In univariate analyses, decision latitude was negatively related to blood coagulation factors VII and VIII. Work demand was positively related to coagulation factor VIII, but not to factor VII. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that job strain was associated with blood coagulation factor VIII after controlling for smoking, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol. These results indicate that job characteristics may be related to blood coagulation, and contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease with other classical risk factors.

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2002

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Learning ObjectivesDiscuss possible mechanisms through which the work schedule—particularly “shift work,” which includes nighttime work—might influence the risk of contracting common infections.Compare the demographic and behavioral features of day workers and shift workers.Contrast the prevalence of common infections in day and shift workers, adjusting for type of work.This study examined the prevalence of common infections among employees in different work schedules. Self-administered questionnaire data from the Maastricht Cohort Study on “Fatigue at Work” (n = 12,140) were used. Job title was used as a matching variable between day and shift workers to control for their different work environment. We used a multilevel analysis of a two-level structure, in which the individual employees (level 1) were nested within job titles (level 2), adjusted for demographics, longstanding disease, health behavior, work-related factors, fatigue and sleep quality. Results from the multilevel analyses showed that, compared to day work, shift work was associated with a higher risk for common infections, with the highest risk in three-shift workers. Compared to day work, shift work was further associated with differences in health, health behavior, sleep, fatigue and perceived job characteristics, factors that may influence the occurrence of infections and should be taken into account in future studies as well.

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2002

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Learning ObjectivesRecall the findings of past studies of lower respiratory function in persons having multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS).Identify criteria for participating in the present study, the grounds for exclusion, and how the trial was carried out.Explain the ways in which patients diagnosed as having MCS differed from control subjects in their reactions to inhaled capsaicin, and the possible implications of these findings.Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is characterized by chemically induced symptoms from multiple organ systems. No consistent physical findings or laboratory abnormalities have been determined for the associated symptoms. Twelve patients with chemically induced airway symptoms, who satisfied Cullen’s criteria for MCS, were provoked double-blind, randomized with saline and three increments of inhaled capsaicin. The recordings were compared with those of a control group of healthy individuals. The results found that the patients coughed more than the control subjects at each dose of capsaicin (P < 0.05 for 0.4 &mgr;mol/L capsaicin and P < 0.005 for 2 &mgr;mol/L and 10 &mgr;mol/L). The capsaicin provocation also induced significantly more symptoms in patients with MCS. We conclude that airway sensory reactivity is increased in patients with MCS, a finding which suggests that neurogenic factors may be of importance in this condition.

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2002

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Learning ObjectivesUnderstand the nature of events causing injury to employees of retail and service establishments of which employees are most likely to suffer injury.Identify work-site characteristics related to the risk of injury and any factors that favor homicidal versus nonfatal events.Appraise the influence, if any, of employee training, security guards, alarms, and the like on the risk of violent injury in the workplace.Workers in retail and service industries are at high risk for workplace violence. While studies have examined the association between environmental and community factors on robbery risk, few have examined risk factors for fatal and nonfatal employee violent injury. A matched case-site/control-site study was conducted among various retail and service establishments in seven California counties. An interview and environmental assessment was performed in each participating business. Over half of the injury events occurring in case-sites were robbery-related, and nearly 13% were fatal. Businesses open 24 hours and those having a history of violent events were found to be at increased risk for employee injury.

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2002

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2002

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Relatively little is known about occupational and other risk factors for renal-cell carcinoma (RCC). Associations between RCC and occupations, exposures and other factors were investigated in a hospital-based case-control study in Bologna (central-northern Italy). Between 1986 and 1994, 324 histologically confirmed RCC cases were diagnosed at Policlinico S. Orsola-Malpighi in patients from the Province of Bologna. Corresponding control subjects admitted to the same hospital with any diagnosis except RCC were matched for sex, age, and residency. We studied the 249 cases and 238 controls for whom detailed information on occupational history, diet, smoking habits, alcohol and drug intake was obtained. At conditional logistic regression, among males (167 matched pairs), significant matched odds ratios (OR) were found, after adjusting for cigarette smoking and alcohol intake, for high body-mass index BMI (third quartile: OR, 4.91; confidence interval [95% CI], 1.56–15.5; last quartile: OR, 4.42; 95% CI, 1.48– 13.18), railway workers (OR, 10.14; 95% CI, 1.46– 70.17) and asbestos exposure (OR, 7.11; 95% CI, 1.46– 34.51); nearly significant OR were found for managers (OR, 3.59; 95% CI, 0.82– 15.59) and metal workers (OR, 2.21; 95% CI, 0.99– 5.37). Among females (52 pairs), significant OR were found for BMI >25.4 (OR, 8.46; 95% CI, 1.02– 68.0). Railway workers (on or near to trains) may have increased risk of developing RCC, possibly due to asbestos exposure. Studies are required on possible risks encountered by railway (and metal) workers and by managers.

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2002

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Job design risk factors for hypertension and heart disease have often been assessed by the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ). Job characteristics are typically assessed only once, however, which can result in misclassification and bias results toward the null. Newer approaches, which assess job characteristics over a working life, are hampered by the need to ask numerous questions about each job, increasing survey length and potentially reducing response rates. Participants in the Work Site Blood Pressure Study, a prospective study of psychosocial factors and ambulatory blood pressure, completed the JCQ about their current jobs. At later dates, 213 employed men, a subset of the original cohort, retrospectively completed the Work History Questionnaire (WHQ), a short version of the JCQ, for each past job. The WHQ exhibited moderate validity for assessing past job characteristics, a weak association with systolic blood pressure, and expected patterns of change over time. Thus, it may be a valuable tool for measuring the health effects of historical job characteristics, which often change over time.

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2002

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This study evaluated cancer incidence and prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing among workers at a plant in Louisiana (LA) that made atrazine and other triazine herbicides. The study covered the time period 1985 through 1997 and included 2045 subjects, of whom 757 worked for the company that owned the plant and 1288 were contract employees. Linkage with a population-based cancer registry and review of death certificates and plant medical records identified cancer cases. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) compared subjects’ cancer incidence rates with those of a regional general population. Plant medical records provided data on the proportion receiving PSA tests among male company employees. Subjects had 46 observed and 40 expected cases of all cancers combined (SIR = 114, CI = 83–152) and had 11/6.3 prostate cancers (SIR = 175, CI = 87–312). The prostate cancer excess was greater in actively working company employees (5/1.3, SIR = 394, CI = 128–920) than in contract employees or inactive company employees (6/5.0, SIR = 119, CI = 44–260) and was limited to men under 60 years of age. Of the 11 prostate cancer cases, nine were diagnosed at an early clinical stage. From 1993 to 1999, the proportion of male company employees who had at least one PSA test was 86% for those who reached 40 years of age while actively working and was 98% for those who reached 45 years of age. The observed prostate cancer increase may have been due to the frequent PSA testing of actively working company employees. There is no epidemiologic or other information that clearly supports a causal relation between atrazine and prostate cancer.

ISSN:1076-2752    

出版商:OVID    

年代:2002

数据来源: OVID