Articles

Stress, health, noise exposures, and injuries among electronic waste recycling workers in Ghana

Electronic waste (e-waste) recycling workers in low and middle-income countries have the potential for occupational injuries due to the nature of their work at informal e-waste sites. However, limited research...

Authors: Katrina N. Burns, Stephanie K. Sayler and Richard L. Neitzel

The office work and stretch training (OST) study: an individualized and standardized approach for reducing musculoskeletal disorders in office workers

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are a common health problem in office workers. In Germany, MSD (mainly back pain related) are the main cause of workdays lost to incapacity. This is not only bothersome for the ...

Authors: Fabian Holzgreve, Laura Maltry, Jasmin Lampe, Helmut Schmidt, Andreas Bader, Julia Rey, David A. Groneberg, Anke van Mark and Daniela Ohlendorf

Disaster preparedness training for Latino migrant and seasonal farm workers in communities where they work

Authors: Rene P. Rosenbaum and Brenda Long

Muscular imbalances and balance capability in dance

A high unilateral load to the musculoskeletal system is specific for formation dance. Due to the lack of data the aim of this study was the side-related (right – left) analysis of strength- and balance capabil...

Authors: Eileen M. Wanke, Julia Schreiter, David A. Groneberg and Burkhard Weisser

Comparison between the musician-specific seating position of high string bow players and their habitual seating position – a video raster stereographic study of the dorsal upper body posture

Effects of playing high stringed bow instruments on the upper body posture have not been analysed so far. The instrument-specific seating position when playing in an orchestra is compared to the habitual seati...

Authors: Daniela Ohlendorf, Jennifer Marx, Kathrin Clasen, Eileen M. Wanke, Stefan Kopp, David A. Groneberg and Stefanie Uibel

Prevalence of hidden carbon monoxide poisoning in auto service workers; a prospective cohort study

Carbon monoxide (CO) is formed as a result of the incomplete burning of hydrocarbon-containing fuels such as natural gas, coal, liquid petroleum gas, and wood. CO is a colorless, odorless, and poisonous gas th...

Authors: Oğuzhan Bol, Serhat Koyuncu and Nurullah Günay

Leadership position and physician visits – results of a nationally representative longitudinal study in Germany

So far, studies within the occupational field have largely concentrated on working conditions and job stressors and staff members’ or subordinate health. Only a few have focused on managers in this context, bu...

Authors: Katrin Christiane Reber, Hans-Helmut König and André Hajek

Work-related outcomes in randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trials in osteoarthritis – are they adequately reported in journal publications? A systematic review

Osteoarthritis (OA) has a high prevalence in Western societies and can affect an individual’s life in a number of domains, including work. In our experience, treatment trials on OA, however, rarely report work...

Authors: Daniel Sowah, Flora Balat and Sebastian Straube

Nurse-work instability and incidence of sick leave – results of a prospective study of nurses aged over 40

The Nurse Work Instability Scale (Nurse-WIS) is an occupation-specific instrument that ascertains “work instability,” the interval before restricted work ability or prolonged sick leave occurs. The objective o...

Authors: Melanie Klein, Stefanie Wobbe-Ribinski, Anika Buchholz, Albert Nienhaus and Anja Schablon

Indoor concentrations of VOCs in beauty salons; association with cosmetic practices and health risk assessment

The use of cosmetic products in beauty salons emits numerous kinds of toxic air pollutants. The objectives of this study were to measure the concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, formaldehy...

Authors: Mostafa Hadei, Philip K Hopke, Abbas Shahsavani, Mahbobeh Moradi, Maryam Yarahmadi, Baharan Emam and Noushin Rastkari

Work related injuries in Qatar: a framework for prevention and control

Work related injuries (WRIs) are a growing public health concern that remains under-recognized, inadequately addressed and largely unmeasured in low and middle-income countries (LMIC’s). However, even in high-...

Authors: Amber Mehmood, Zaw Maung, Rafael J. Consunji, Ayman El-Menyar, Ruben Peralta, Hassan Al-Thani and Adnan A. Hyder

Olfactory dysfunction revisited: a reappraisal of work-related olfactory dysfunction caused by chemicals

Occupational exposure to numerous individual chemicals has been associated with olfactory dysfunction, mainly in individual case descriptions. Comprehensive epidemiological investigations into the olfactotoxic...

Authors: Sabine Werner and Eberhard Nies

Health, risk behaviour and consumption of addictive substances among physicians - results of an online survey

Previous studies were able to show that hazardous alcohol and substance abuse among physicians is not rare. Currently no recent data to detect risk groups are available either on the prevalence of hazardous dr...

Authors: Dominik Pförringer, Regina Mayer, Christa Meisinger, Dennis Freuer and Florian Eyer

Knowledge of first aid methods and attitude about snake bite among medical students: a cross sectional observational study

Snake bite is a neglected public health problem in tropical and subtropical region. The study was conducted with objectives to determine the knowledge of first aid methods in snake bite and the perception of s...

Authors: Nuwadatta Subedi, Ishwari Sharma Paudel, Ajay Khadka, Umesh Shrestha, Vipul Bhusan Mallik and K. C. Ankur

Impact of shift work on the diurnal cortisol rhythm: a one-year longitudinal study in junior physicians

Cumulative epidemiological evidence suggests that shift work exerts harmful effects on human health. However, the physiological mechanisms are not well understood. This study aimed to examine the impact of shi...

Authors: Jian Li, Martin Bidlingmaier, Raluca Petru, Francisco Pedrosa Gil, Adrian Loerbroks and Peter Angerer

Correction to: Health risks in international container and bulk cargo transport due to volatile toxic compounds

Magne Bråtveit and Rune Djurhuus have removed themselves as authors from this article [1] as they did not approve the final version and they do not agree with the revisions made to the section “Occurrences of ...

Authors: Xaver Baur, Lygia Therese Budnik, Zhiwei Zhao, Louis Verschoor, Federico Maria Rubino, Claudio Colosio and Jorgen R. Jepsen

Mutagenic and DNA repair activity in traffic policemen: a case-crossover study

Emissions from vehicles are composed of heterogeneous mixtures of hazardous substances; several pollutants such as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are amongst the most dangerous substances detected in ...

Authors: Caterina Ledda, Carla Loreto, Massimo Bracci, Claudia Lombardo, Gaetano Romano, Diana Cinà, Nicola Mucci, Sergio Castorina and Venerando Rapisarda

Sulfur dioxide exposure reduces the quantity of CD19⁺ cells and causes nasal epithelial injury in rats

Reactive airway dysfunction syndrome (RADS), also called irritant-induced asthma, is a type of occupational asthma that can occur within a very short period of latency. The study sought to investigate the infl...

Authors: Ruonan Chai, Hua Xie, Junli Zhang and Zhuang Ma

Epworth sleepiness scale in medical residents: quality of sleep and its relationship to quality of life

Resident doctors are continuously exposed to prolonged working hours and night shifts, making them susceptible to the many physical, psychological, and cognitive side effects of sleep deprivation, which may af...

Authors: Yehia Z. Alami, Beesan T. Ghanim and Sa’ed H. Zyoud

“Areas of Worklife scale” (AWS) short version (Spanish): a confirmatory factor analysis based on a secondary school teacher sample

This study examines the construct validity of the Areas of Worklife Short Scale, a practical instrument to measure employees’ perceptions of their work environments in the sample of secondary obligatory educat...

Authors: B. Masluk, S. Gascón Santos, A. Albesa Cartagena, A. Asensio Martinez, E. Peck and M. P. Leiter

Long-term effect of hand-arm vibration on thermotactile perception thresholds

Occupational exposure to hand-transmitted vibration (HTV) is known to cause neurological symptoms such as numbness, reduced manual dexterity, grip strength and sensory perception. The purpose of this longitudi...

Authors: Ronnie Lundström, Adnan Noor Baloch, Mats Hagberg, Tohr Nilsson and Lars Gerhardsson

Association of plasma PCB levels and HbA1c concentration in Iran

The rapid increase in prevalence of diabetes mellitus over the last decades warrants more attention to the effects of environmental and occupational exposures on glucose metabolism. Our study aimed to assess t...

Authors: Sahar Eftekhari, Omid Aminian, Zeinab Moinfar, Thomas Schettgen, Andrea Kaifie, Michael Felten, Thomas Kraus and André Esser

Willingness to commute among future physicians: a multicenter cross-sectional survey of German medical students

Many countries are faced with a decrease in physicians in non-urban areas. Especially for regions with decreasing populations, temporary solutions like commuting models might be a suitable option. So far, litt...

Authors: Johannes Quart, Tobias Deutsch, Solveig Carmienke, Susanne Döpfmer and Thomas Frese

Hepatitis C in healthcare personnel: secondary data analysis of therapies with direct-acting antiviral agents

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections are blood-borne, generally chronic and are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study is to describe the results of therapies with direct-acting...

Authors: Claudia Westermann, Dana Wendeler and Albert Nienhaus

Occupational infection and needle stick injury among clinical laboratory workers in Al-Madinah city, Saudi Arabia

Clinical laboratory workers face biohazard such as needlestick injury and occupational infection on a daily basis. In this study, we examined self-reported frequency of occupational infection and needlestick i...

Authors: Omar F. Khabour, Khalil H. Al Ali and Waleed H. Mahallawi

Noise exposure and auditory thresholds of military musicians: a follow up study

Military musicians are working in a noisy environment with high sound exposure levels above the international standards. Aim of the current study is to find out, whether they develop the expected hearing impai...

Authors: Reinhard Müller and Joachim Schneider

Cotton dust exposure and self-reported respiratory symptoms among textile factory workers in Northwest Ethiopia: a comparative cross-sectional study

Cotton dust induced respiratory disorders are dramatically increased over the globe, especially the problem is serious in developing countries. Respiratory symptoms, such as cough, phlegm, wheezing, shortness ...

Authors: Sintayehu Daba Wami, Daniel Haile Chercos, Awrajaw Dessie, Zemichael Gizaw, Atalay Getachew, Tesfaye Hambisa, Tadese Guadu, Dawit Getachew and Bikes Destaw

In vitro toxicological evaluation of surgical smoke from human tissue

Operating room personnel have the potential to be exposed to surgical smoke, the by-product of using electrocautery or laser surgical device, on a daily basis. Surgical smoke is made up of both biological by-p...

Authors: Jennifer D. Sisler, Justine Shaffer, Jhy-Charm Soo, Ryan F. LeBouf, Martin Harper, Yong Qian and Taekhee Lee

Evaluating a framework for tuberculosis screening among healthcare workers in clinical settings, Inner Mongolia, China

Health care workers are at high risk for tuberculosis (TB). China, a high burden TB country, has no policy on medical surveillance for TB among healthcare workers. In this paper, we evaluate whether China’s na...

Authors: Shiming Cheng, Deanna Tollefson, Guangxue He, Yuan Li, Hui Guo, Shua Chai, Fangfang Gao, Fei Gao, Guoxin Han, Liping Ren, Yulin Ren, Jianbo Li, Lixia Wang, Jay K. Varma, Dongmei Hu, Haiying Fan…

Hydrogen sulphide exposure in waste water treatment

The aims of this study was to assess exposure to hydrogen sulphide (H₂S) among waste water treatment workers (WWWs), and achieve a better measure of the risks of H₂S exposure than only using the eight-hour averag...

Authors: Åse Dalseth Austigard, Kristin Svendsen and Kari K. Heldal

Food offerings on board and dietary intake of European and Kiribati seafarers - cross-sectional data from the seafarer nutrition study -

Overweight and cardiovascular risk factors are a common phenomenon in seafarers. According to internal observation particularly crew members from the Pacific Island State of Kiribati are exposed to a high risk...

Authors: Birgit-Christiane Zyriax, Robert von Katzler, Bettina Jagemann, Joachim Westenhoefer, Hans-Joachim Jensen, Volker Harth and Marcus Oldenburg

Employment status and changes in working career in relation to asthma: a cross-sectional survey

Asthmatics confront inconveniences in working life that make it more difficult to pursue a sustainable career, such as unemployment and work disability. Ways of dealing with these inconveniences may be career ...

Authors: Saara Taponen, Lauri Lehtimäki, Kirsi Karvala, Ritva Luukkonen and Jukka Uitti

Validating the Demand Control Support Questionnaire among white-collar employees in Switzerland and the United States

The Demand Control Support Questionnaire (DCSQ) is an established self-reported tool to measure a stressful work environment. Validated German and English versions are however currently missing. The aim of thi...

Authors: Daniel Mauss, Raphael M. Herr, Töres Theorell, Peter Angerer and Jian Li

Diagnosis, monitoring and prevention of exposure-related non-communicable diseases in the living and working environment: DiMoPEx-project is designed to determine the impacts of environmental exposure on human health

The WHO has ranked environmental hazardous exposures in the living and working environment among the top risk factors for chronic disease mortality. Worldwide, about 40 million people die each year from noncom...

Authors: Lygia Therese Budnik, Balazs Adam, Maria Albin, Barbara Banelli, Xaver Baur, Fiorella Belpoggi, Claudia Bolognesi, Karin Broberg, Per Gustavsson, Thomas Göen, Axel Fischer, Dorota Jarosinska, Fabiana Manservisi, Richard O’Kennedy, Johan Øvrevik, Elizabet Paunovic…

Occupational exposure to ultrafine particles in police officers: no evidence for adverse respiratory effects

Inhalation exposure to fine and ultrafine particles (UFPs) has been associated with respiratory diseases. However, little is known on the quality, threshold levels and concentration of these particles causing ...

Authors: G. Jordakieva, I. Grabovac, E. Valic, K. E. Schmidt, A. Graff, A. Schuster, K. Hoffmann-Sommergruber, C. Oberhuber, O. Scheiner, A. Goll and J. Godnic-Cvar

Oxygen Consumption (V’O2) and physical Strainas measured by the occupational activity of cleaning personnel

The aim of the study was to determine the physical effort and energy expenditure needed over a working period of 45–60 min, specifically for the occupational activity of cleaning. The effort was demonstrated i...

Authors: M. J. Fröhlich, R. F. Kroidl and T. Welte

Application of the ICF based Norwegian function assessment scale to employees in Germany

At the interface of the occupational setting and rehabilitation, normative values for functional ability are desirable and worthwhile. The Norwegian Function Assessment Scale (NFAS) is a 39 item self-report in...

Authors: Sylvia Jankowiak, Uwe Rose and Norbert Kersten

Acute diesel exhaust exposure and postural stability: a controlled crossover experiment

Recent epidemiological evidence connects ambient air pollutants to adverse neurobehavioural effects in adults. In animal models, subchronic controlled exposures to diesel exhaust (DE) have also showed evidence...

Authors: Jason Curran, Rachel Cliff, Nadine Sinnen, Michael Koehle and Chris Carlsten

Simultaneous measurement of formic acid, methanol and ethanol in vitreous and blood samples of postmortem by headspace GC-FID

Formic acid (formate) is the main reason for toxicity and death through methanol poisoning. The simultaneous determination of methanol, ethanol, and formate in the body can help to discover the cause of death ...

Authors: Hamideh Ghorbani, Alireza Nezami, Behjat Sheikholeslami, Arya Hedjazi and Mahnaz Ahmadimanesh

Pulmonary injury associated with spray of a water-based nano-sized waterproofing product: a case study

In most reported cases of lung trauma with water proofing products, volatile organic compounds (VOC) have a prominent role. Here we report on a case involving ten workers exposed to a sprayed product containin...

Authors: Paul T. J. Scheepers, Lucie Masen-Poos, Frits G. B. G. J. van Rooy, Arné Oerlemans, Eline van Daalen, Robbert Cremers, Hera Lichtenbeld, Bonne Biesma, Jorid B. Sørli, Ismo K. Koponen, Søren Thor Larsen, Peder Wolkoff and Asger W. Nørgaard

“It’s still a great adventure” – exploring offshore employees’ working conditions in a qualitative study

Despite the particular demands inherent to offshore work, little is known about the working conditions of employees in the German offshore wind industry. To date, neither offshore employees’ job demands and re...

Authors: Janika Mette, Marcial Velasco Garrido, Volker Harth, Alexandra M. Preisser and Stefanie Mache

Vibration thresholds in carpal tunnel syndrome assessed by multiple frequency vibrometry: a case-control study

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common compression neuropathy, but there is no gold standard for establishing the diagnosis. The ability to feel vibrations in the fingertips is dependent on the functi...

Authors: Magnus Flondell, Birgitta Rosén, Gert Andersson, Tommy Schyman, Lars B. Dahlin and Anders Björkman

Heavy metals effect on breast cancer progression

Breast cancer is the most frequent localization of malignant process in American women and women of European countries. To date it is not possible to control the morbidity growth due to lack of effective ways ...

Authors: А. Romaniuk, M. Lyndin, V. Sikora, Y. Lyndina, S. Romaniuk and K. Sikora

Risk of lymphoma subtypes by occupational exposure in Southern Italy

Occupational exposure is known to play a role in the aetiology of lymphomas. The aim of the present work was to explore the occupational risk of the major B-cell lymphoma subtypes using a case–control study de...

Authors: Giovanni Maria Ferri, Giorgina Specchia, Patrizio Mazza, Giuseppe Ingravallo, Graziana Intranuovo, Chiara Monica Guastadisegno, Maria Luisa Congedo, Gianfranco Lagioia, Maria Cristina Loparco, Annamaria Giordano, Tommasina Perrone, Francesco Guadio, Caterina Spinosa, Carla Minoia, Lucia D’Onghia, Michela Strusi…

Prevalence, predictors and economic burden of morbidities among waste-pickers of Mumbai, India: a cross-sectional study

The occupation of waste-picking characterised as 3Ds – dangerous, drudgery and demanding. In this context, the study aimed to assess occupational morbidities among the waste-pickers and attempts to identify po...

Authors: Praveen Chokhandre, Shrikant Singh and Gyan Chandra Kashyap

Can yesterday’s smoking research inform today’s shiftwork research? Epistemological consequences for exposures and doses due to circadian disruption at and off work

In 1950, landmark epidemiology studies by Wynder & Graham and Doll & Hill contributed to identifying smoking as a potent carcinogen. In 2007, IARC classified shiftwork involving circadian disruption (CD) as pr...

Authors: Thomas C. Erren and Philip Lewis

Health utilities for chronic low back pain

Chronic low back pain (LBP) is a common health problem, with a large potential for primary prevention. Health utilities (HU) reflect which proportion of their expected remaining life time individuals would hyp...

Authors: Anna Lene Seidler, Constanze Rethberg, Jochen Schmitt, Albert Nienhaus and Andreas Seidler

Work participation of patients with musculoskeletal disorders: is this addressed in physical therapy practice?

Musculoskeletal disorders are the main complaints for visiting a physical therapist (PT) in primary health care; they have a negative effect on an individual’s quality of life and result in a major cost to soc...

Authors: Wiebke Oswald, Nathan Hutting, Josephine A. Engels, J. Bart Staal, Maria W. G. Nijhuis-van der Sanden and Yvonne F. Heerkens

Assessment of museum staff exposure to arsenic while handling contaminated exhibits by urinalysis of arsenic species

Preservation of museum objects with inorganic arsenic compounds and contamination of the surroundings has previously been documented. The present study addresses the exposure of museum staff by measuring arsen...

Authors: Amanda Mithander, Thomas Göen, Gitte Felding and Peter Jacobsen

Migrating pleural plaque in a patient with asbestos induced pleural disease: a case report

Health surveillance of formerly asbestos exposed individuals focus on early detection of asbestos related diseases, such as lung fibrosis (asbestosis), pleural plaques, mesothelioma and lung cancer in particul...

Authors: Christian Eisenhawer, Michael K. Felten, Thomas Hager, Mikhail Gronostayskiy, Philipp Bruners, Andrea Tannapfel and Thomas Kraus