• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.130-142
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• 2017

Background: Osteoarthritis of the knee is considered to be related to knee straining activities at work. The objective of this review is to assess the exposure dose-response relation between kneeling or squatting, lifting, and climbing stairs at work, and knee osteoarthritis. Methods: We included cohort and case-control studies. For each study that reported enough data, we calculated the odds ratio (OR) per 5,000 hours of cumulative kneeling and per 100,000 kg of cumulative lifting. We pooled these incremental ORs in a random effects meta-analysis. Results: We included 15 studies (2 cohort and 13 case-control studies) of which nine assessed risks in more than two exposure categories. We considered all but one study at high risk of bias. The incremental OR per 5,000 hours of kneeling was 1.26 (95% confidence interval 1.17-1.35, 5 studies, moderate quality evidence) for a log-linear exposure dose-response model. For lifting, there was no exposure dose-response per 100,000 kg of lifetime lifting (OR 1.00, 95% confidence interval 1.00-1.01). For climbing, an exposure dose-response could not be calculated. Conclusion: There is moderate quality evidence that longer cumulative exposure to kneeling or squatting at work leads to a higher risk of osteoarthritis of the knee. For other exposure, there was no exposure dose-response or there were insufficient data to establish this. More reliable exposure measurements would increase the quality of the evidence.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.162-168
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• 2017

Background: Pelvic ring fractures (PRFs) may influence the daily activities and quality of life of the injured. The aim of this retrospective study was to explore the functional outcomes and factors related to return to work (RTW) after PRF. Methods: During the years 2003-2012, 282 injured individuals aged 20-55 years on the date of the accident, were hospitalized and treated for PRFs in a large tertiary hospital in Athens, Greece. One hundred and three patients were traced and contacted; 77 who were on paid employment prior to the accident gave their informed consent to participate in the survey, which was conducted in early 2015 through telephone interviews. The questionnaire included variables related to injury, treatment and activities, and the Majeed pelvic score. Univariate and multiple regression analyses were used for statistical assessment. Results: Almost half of the injured (46.7%) fully RTW, and earning losses were reported to be 35% after PRF. The univariate analysis confirmed that RTW was significantly related to accident site (labor or not), the magnitude of the accident's force, concomitant injuries, duration of hospitalization, time to RTW, engagement to the same sport, Majeed score, and complications such as limp and pain as well as urologic and sexual complaints (p < 0.05 for all). On multiple logistic regression analysis, the accident sustained out of work (odds ratio: 6.472, 95% confidence interval: 1.626-25.769) and Majeed score (odds ratio: 3.749, 95% confidence interval: 2.092-6.720) were identified as independent predictive factors of full RTW. Conclusion: PRFs have severe socioeconomic consequences. Possible predictors of RTW should be taken into account for health management and policies.

• The Journal of Churna Manual Medicine for Spine and Nerves
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.15-28
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• 2019

Objectives : This study aimed to systematically and comprehensively review controlled clinical trials on the effectiveness and safety of Chuna Manual Therapy for stroke. Methods : By October 7, 2019, three core databases and three domestic databases were searched. Seven major academic journals on the related field were also hand-searched. Methodological quality of the included studies was evaluated using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Meta-analysis was conducted and the quality of its evidence was assessed using the GRADE methodology. Results : Five articles met the eligibility criteria. The results of most of included studies were in favor of Chuna Manual Therapy. No study described any adverse events during or after the clinical trials. Meta-analysis of three eligible studies showed that the pre- and post-treatment scores on the Modified Barthel Index (mean difference 8.00, 95% confidence interval 0.26 to 15.74) and Berg Balance Scale (mean difference 3.57, 95% confidence interval 0.64 to 6.51) of the Chuna-treated group were significantly different, but only marginally higher than those of the non-treatment group. Thus, the level of evidence gathered from these studies was assessed to be low. Conclusions : Based on current available evidence, any confirmative conclusions cannot be made on the effectiveness and safety of Chuna Manual Therapy for stroke because of the small sample size, low methodological quality, presence of statistical heterogeneity, and missing safety information. More rigorously designed large-scale multi-center studies are needed to establish more specific and credible evidence to support or oppose the use of Chuna Manual Therapy for stroke.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.284-292
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• 2012

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the relations between the bacterial concentration and the environmental factors in the water soluble metal working fluids at factories. Methods: The bacterial concentrations for airborne and fluid samples of 7 factories were quantified during the summer season. And we statistically analysed the relations between the bacterial concentrations and the factors such as temperature, relative humidity, usage quantity, mixing ratio and exchange interval. Results: The geometric mean levels of the airborne bacterial concentrations were 79.1(range : N.D.~686) $CFU/m^{3}$ and 68.1(range: N.D.~919) $CFU/m^{3}$ in the process and outdoor. The airborne bacterial concentrations showed no statistical difference by process, usage quantity, mixing ratio and exchange interval. The airborne bacterial concentrations had negatively weak correlations with air temperature and relative air humidity(p<0.05). The bacterial concentrations and pH showed significantly negative correlations in the fluids(p<0.05). And the airborne bacterial concentrations in factories and those in metal working fluids showed no statistical relationship. Conclusions: In the water soluble metal working fluids using factories, the airborne bacterial concentrations of the process were related to those of the outdoor and environmental factors, rather than the onsite contaminated metal working fluids.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.77-83
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• 2017

Background: In contemporary China, most parents are dual-earner couples and there is only one child in the family. We aimed to examine the associations of parents' work stress with suicidal ideation among the corresponding adolescent. We further hypothesized that low parental support experienced by adolescents may mediate the associations. Methods: Cross-sectional data from school students and their working parents were used, with 907 families from Kunming City, China. Stress at work was measured by the effort-reward imbalance questionnaire. Perceived parental support was assessed by an item on parental empathy and their willingness to communicate with the adolescent. Suicidal ideation was considered positive if students reported thoughts about suicide every month or more frequently during the previous 6 months. Logistic regression was used to examine the associations. Results: We observed that parents' work stress was positively associated with low parental support, which was in turn associated with adolescent suicidal ideation. The odds ratio for parents' work stress and adolescent suicidal ideation was 2.91 (95% confidence interval: 1.53-5.53), and this association was markedly attenuated to 2.24 (95% confidence interval: 1.15-4.36) after additional adjustment for parental support. Notably, mothers' work stress levels exerted stronger effects on children's suicidal ideation than those of fathers. Conclusion: Parents' work stress (particularly mother's work stress) was strongly associated with adolescent's suicidal ideation, and the association was partially mediated by low parental support. These results need to be replicated and extended in prospective investigations within and beyond China, in order to explore potential causal pathways as a basis of preventive action.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.841-847
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• 2021

Related institutions that use radiation are diverse in Korea, such as research, medical care, and education. Recently, the number of examinations and visits to medical institutions is increasing. As a result, the number of radiological examinations in medical institutions is increasing. Radiation safety management is necessary as well as exposure of radiation workers. For safety management, first of all, it is necessary to wear the personal exposure dosimeter correctly and measure it accurately after wearing it. This study tries to evaluate and verify the measurement straightness of PLD devices by radiation of a diagnostic generator. Radiation division irradiation time interval was measured after irradiating 10 times at 10, 30, and 60 sec and irradiating the irradiation distance from 30 to 100 cm at 10 cm intervals to measure the change in absorbed dose depending on the distance. As a result, there was no difference in absorbed dose by time interval. This is considered to be helpful in various studies by using a diagnostic generator for the study of high absorbed dose.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.390-395
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• 2021

Background: Health-care providers typically undergo shift work and are subjected to increased stress. Night shift work may induce disturbed sleep cycles and circadian rhythm. The objective of this study was to explore if night shift workers (NSWs) show an increased risk of abnormal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 574 employees without thyroid disease and abnormal TSH at baseline who underwent annual check-ups between 2007 and 2016 in a medical center. NSWs were defined as those with working time schedules other than daytime hours. We calculated the incidence rate and estimated the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for incident abnormal TSH and subclinical hypothyroidism compared with non-NSWs using a Cox regression model. Results: A total of 56 incident abnormal TSH cases and 39 subclinical hypothyroidism cases in NSWs were identified during 3000 person-years of follow-up. In models adjusted for age, sex, obesity, and working departments, we found no increased relative risk for incident abnormal TSH (HR: 0.72, 95% confidence interval: 0.33-1.60) or subclinical hypothyroidism (HR: 0.52, 95% confidence interval: 0.19-1.45) when comparing NSWs to non-NSWs; nor were incidence rates significantly different among exclusively medical employees after excluding administrative staff. Conclusion: In this hospital-based nine-year follow-up retrospective cohort study, NSWs were not associated with increased relative risk of incident abnormal TSH and subclinical hypothyroidism, in contrast to previous cross-sectional studies.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.384-389
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• 2021

Background: Social distancing by working-from-home is an effective measure to decrease the spread of COVID-19. However, this new work pattern could also affect the well-being of workers. Therefore, the aim of the study was to study the magnitude of occupational health problems and lifestyle changes among workers who have only recently started working from home. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using online self-administered questionnaires during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in the Bangkok metropolitan area, Thailand. The participants were from any organization that allowed working from home. The demographic data including the analysis of the characteristics of working from home, the occurrence of occupational health problems, and the lifestyle changes caused by working from home were analyzed. Results: A total of 869 workers were included as study participants. The highest prevalence of physical health problems among all workers was identified to be weight gain at a rate of 40.97% (95% confidence interval = 37.69-44.24), and the highest prevalence of psychosocial problems was identified to be cabin fever at a rate of 31.28% (95% confidence interval = 26.66-35.90%) among full-time working-from-home workers. The health effects that were significantly related to the intensity of working from home (p for trends <0.05), either positively or negatively, included body weight changes, ergonomic problems, indoor environmental problems, and psychosocial problems. Meanwhile, the lifestyle changes related to work intensity included eating pattern, sleep habits, and exercise. Conclusions: Working from home can affect workers' well-being in various aspects. Hence, occupational health providers must prepare for risk prevention and health promotion in this "new normal" working life pattern and for future pandemics.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.365-374
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• 2011

Objectives: This study was designed to investigate whether long-term, low-level exposure to monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (MAHs) induced insulin resistance. Methods: The subjects were 110 male workers who were occupationally exposed to styrene, toluene, and xylene. One hundred and ten age-matched male workers who had never been occupationally exposed to organic solvents were selected as a control group. Cytokines, which have played a key role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, and oxidative stress indices were measured. Assessment of exposure to MAHs was performed by measuring their ambient levels and their urinary metabolites in exposed workers, and the resulting parameters between the exposed group and non-exposed control groups were compared. Results: There was no significant difference in general characteristics and anthropometric parameters between the two groups; however, total cholesterol, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance levels were significantly higher in the exposed group. Phenylglyoxylic acid levels showed significant association with tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$, total oxidative status, and oxidative stress index via multiple linear regression analysis. Further, there was a negative correlation between methylhippuric acid levels and total anti-oxidative capacity, and there was a significant relationship between MAHs exposure and fasting glucose levels, as found by multiple logistic regression analysis (odds ratio = 3.95, 95% confidence interval = 1.074-14.530). Conclusion: This study indicated that MAHs increase fasting glucose level and insulin resistance. Furthermore, these results suggested that absorbing the organic solvent itself and active metabolic intermediates can increase oxidative stress and cytokine levels, resulting in the changes in glucose metabolism and the induction of insulin resistance.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.191-197
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• 2000

Objectives : Risperidone is a new antipsychotic drug developed to overcome the therapeutic limitation of conventional antipsychotics. It responses to negative as well as positive symptoms by blocking both dopaminergic and serotonergic receptors, causing no significant side effects such as agranulocytosis and seizure. It is, however, not known whether it induces any serious cardiovascular side effects as evoked by other conventional antipsychotic drugs. The aims of this study were to evaluate the effect of risperidone on cardiovascular function, and to discuss the factors affecting the cardiovascular function. Methods : For 42 patients(22 males and 20 females) diagnosed as schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder or schizoaffective disorder according to the DSM-IV classification, the cardiovascular fuctions such as heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, PR interval, QRS interval and QT interval were successively checked before and after 2 weeks and 4 weeks risperidone administration. Furthermore, variables such as body weight, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale(BPRS), Clinical Global Impression(CGI), Extrapyramidal Symptom Rating Scale(ESRS), Anticholinergic Rating Scale(ARS), serum cholesterol level, serum triglyceride level, serum high-density-lipoprotein level, serum WBC, serum Hb, serum platelet level, prothrombin time and partial thromboplastin time were also analyzed before and after 2 weeks and 4 weeks risperidone administration. Results : 1) Risperidone treatment resulted in a significantly decreased heart rate and increased QT interval after 4 weeks administration(p<0.005 respectively). 2) The scores of BPRS and CGI were significantly decreased after 2 weeks and 4 weeks risperidone administration as compared with baseline(p<0.001 respectively). The scores of ESRS and ASRS were significantly increased after 2 weeks and 4 weeks risperidone administration as compared with baseline(p<0.001 respectively). 3) There were positive correlations between heart rate after 4 weeks and total dose(P<0.05). Blood pressure was significantly(p<0.05) correlated with sex(higher in male) and significantly(p<0.05) positive correlated with body weight. QT interval was significantly(p<0.05) correlated with sex(longer in female) and smoking history(shorter in smokers). Conclusions : Risperidone could induce significant change in heart rate and Q-T interval. Therefore, the cardiovascular safety for risperidone should be reconsidered according to the duration and dosage increase.