Articles

Predictors of competitive employment in individuals with severe mental illness: results from an observational, cross-sectional study in Germany

Employment is of great importance as it is associated with various positive effects. Individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) are often excluded from competitive employment. Current data on employment of i...

Authors: Uta Gühne, Alexander Pabst, Markus Kösters, Alkomiet Hasan, Peter Falkai, Reinhold Kilian, Andreas Allgöwer, Klemens Ajayi, Jessica Baumgärtner, Peter Brieger, Karel Frasch, Stephan Heres, Markus Jäger, Andreas Küthmann, Albert Putzhammer, Bertram Schneeweiß…

Health risks and mitigation strategies from occupational exposure to wildland fire: a scoping review

Due to accelerating wildland fire activity, there is mounting urgency to understand, prevent, and mitigate the occupational health impacts associated with wildland fire suppression. The objectives of this revi...

Authors: Erica Koopmans, Katie Cornish, Trina M. Fyfe, Katherine Bailey and Chelsea A. Pelletier

Association between occupational noise and vibration and anxiety in the South Korean working population: a cross-sectional study

Although occupational exposure to noise and vibration is common, its effect on psychological wellbeing is poorly understood. This study investigated the relationship between occupational exposure to noise and ...

Authors: Minah Park, Fatima Nari, Wonjeong Jeong, Eun-Cheol Park and Sung-In Jang

Knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of Latinas in cleaning occupations in northern New Jersey: a cross-sectional mixed methods study

In the United States, 88.3% of all 1,163,000 maids and housekeeping cleaners are female, and approximately half of them Latinas. Latinas are understudied and underrepresented in health research, particularly i...

Authors: Erin Speiser, Genevieve Pinto Zipp, Deborah A. DeLuca, Ana Paula Cupertino, Evelyn Arana-Chicas, Elli Gourna Paleoudis, Benjamin Kligler and Francisco Cartujano-Barrera

Reflection on leadership behavior: potentials and limits in the implementation of stress-preventive leadership of middle management in hospitals – a qualitative evaluation of a participatory developed intervention

Mental health and stress prevention aspects related to workplace in hospitals are gaining increasingly more attention in research. The workplace hospital is characterized by high work intensity, high emotional...

Authors: Elena Tsarouha, Felicitas Stuber, Tanja Seifried-Dübon, Natalia Radionova, Susanne Schnalzer, Christoph Nikendei, Melanie Genrich, Britta Worringer, Maja Stiawa, Nadine Mulfinger, Harald Gündel, Florian Junne and Monika A. Rieger

COPSOQ III in Germany: validation of a standard instrument to measure psychosocial factors at work

Over the last almost 20 years COPSOQ (Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire) has become a well-established instrument to measure psychosocial stress at work. In Germany, a first validated version of COPSOQ was...

Authors: Hans-Joachim Lincke, Martin Vomstein, Alexandra Lindner, Inga Nolle, Nicola Häberle, Ariane Haug and Matthias Nübling

Long-term visual pathway alterations after elemental mercury poisoning: report of a series of 29 cases

There are few clinical data on retinal involvement after acute exposure to high concentrations mercury and the available reports are based on a small number of patients suffering chronic exposure. The purpose ...

Authors: Salvador Pastor-Idoate, Rosa M. Coco-Martin, Iratxe Zabalza, Yrbani Lantigua, Itziar Fernández, Jose L. Pérez-Castrillón, Ruben Cuadrado, Jose A. de Lazaro, Angela Morejon, Antonio Dueñas-Laita and Jose C. Pastor

Correction to: Start moving - benefits of an onsite workplace health program in the age of digitalization

Authors: Prem Borle, Franziska Boerner-Zobel, Harald Bias and Susanne Voelter-Mahlknecht

Psychosocial demands and resources for working time organization in GP practices. Results from a team-based ethnographic study in Germany

General practitioners (GPs) are challenged, e.g. by long working hours, and as employers they are responsible for the creation of working conditions that prevent work-related psychosocial risks. Leadership beh...

Authors: Christine Preiser, Elena Tsarouha, Birgitta Weltermann, Florian Junne, Tanja Seifried-Dübon, Sigrid Hartmann, Markus Bleckwenn, Monika A. Rieger and Esther Rind

Start moving - benefits of an onsite workplace health program in the age of digitalization

The process of digitization should simplify our work and improve related processes (i.e. quality, transparency). Moreover, it enables the home office, which is greatly expanded due to the current pandemic. Reg...

Authors: Prem Borle, Franziska Boerner-Zobel, Harald Bias and Susanne Voelter-Mahlknecht

The impact of Post-COVID-Syndrome on functioning – results from a community survey in patients after mild and moderate SARS-CoV-2-infections in Germany

In COVID-19 survivors a relatively high number of long-term symptoms have been observed. Besides impact on quality of life, these symptoms (now called Post-COVID-Syndrome) may have an impact on functioning and ma...

Authors: Christina Lemhöfer, Christian Sturm, Dana Loudovici-Krug, Norman Best and Christoph Gutenbrunner

How to evaluate digital leadership: a cross-sectional study

With the increasing digitalization of the working environment, the demands on managers are changing fundamentally to the point of an emerging field of research in digital leadership. Municipal administrations ...

Authors: Kevin Claassen, Dominique Rodil dos Anjos, Jan Kettschau and Horst Christoph Broding

Powered air-purifying respirators used during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic significantly reduce speech perception

Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, interventions in the upper airways are considered high-risk procedures for otolaryngologists and their colleagues. The purpose of this study was to eval...

Authors: Roxanne Weiss, Leon Guchlerner, Tobias Weissgerber, Natalie Filmann, Birgit Haake, Kai Zacharowski, Timo Wolf, Sabine Wicker, Volkhard A. J. Kempf, Sandra Ciesek, Timo Stöver and Marc Diensthuber

Digitally connected work and its consequences for strain – a systematic review

Evolving digitization has an impact not only on the organization of work, but also on the health of employees. Dealing with new technologies, integrating new processes and requirements into work, and restructu...

Authors: Sabrina Zolg, Barbara Heiden and Britta Herbig

Eating behaviour and weight development of European and Asian seafarers during stay on board and at home

Food choices on board merchant ships are limited and seafarers repeatedly described as being at high risk of developing overweight compared to the general population. Up to date, research has not distinguished...

Authors: Felix Alexander Neumann, Lukas Belz, Dorothee Dengler, Volker Harth, Thomas von Münster, Joachim Westenhöfer, Marcus Oldenburg and Birgit-Christiane Zyriax

Genome-wide mRNA profiling identifies the NRF2-regulated lymphocyte oxidative stress status in patients with silicosis

The immunomodulatory abnormalities of silicosis are related to the lymphocyte oxidative stress state. The potential effect of antioxidant therapy on silicosis may depend on the variation in nuclear factor eryt...

Authors: Yingzheng Zhao, Guangcui Xu, Haibin Li, Meiyu Chang, Cheng Xiong, Yingjun Tao, Yi Guan, Yuchun Li and Sanqiao Yao

The pupillary light reflex (PLR) as a marker for the ability to work or drive – a feasibility study

The PLR (pupillary light reflex) can be a marker for pathological medical conditions, such as neurodegenerative or mental health disorders and diseases as well as marker for physiological alterations, such as ...

Authors: Andrea Kaifie, Martin Reugels, Thomas Kraus and Michael Kursawe

Prevalence and risk factors for latent tuberculosis in polish healthcare workers: the comparison of tuberculin skin test and interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) performance

Tuberculosis (TB) is still one of the most common infectious diseases worldwide. Health care workers (HCW) are at particular risk of the disease due to their constant exposure to TB patients or their specimens...

Authors: Monika Szturmowicz, Beata Broniarek-Samson and Urszula Demkow

Electrocardiographic abnormalities in medically screened German military aircrew

A resting electrocardiogram (ECG) is a well-tolerated, non-invasive, and inexpensive test for overt electrical signs of cardiac pathology and is widely used in the screening of aircrew and other high-hazard oc...

Authors: Norbert Guettler and Stefan Sammito

A mass casualty incident of infectious diseases at the port of Hamburg: an analysis of organizational structures and emergency concepts

The project “ARMIHN” (Adaptive Resiliency Management in Port) focuses on strengthening the capability to act in a mass casualty incident (MCI) due to an outbreak of infectious diseases (MCI-ID). In addition to...

Authors: Angelina Klein, Julian Heuser, Esther Henning, Nadine Sprössel, Ann-Christin Kordsmeyer, Marcus Oldenburg, Natascha Mojtahedzadeh, Jan Heidrich, Kristina Carolin Militzer, Lukas Belz, Thomas von Münster, Volker Harth, Lena Ehlers, Jens de Boer, Scarlett Kleine-Kampmann, Matthias Boldt…

Online survey among maritime pilots: job-related stress and strain and the effects on their work ability

Maritime pilots often navigate ships through challenging waterways. The required 24 h standby rotation system (ROS) poses a stressful working situation. This study aims to describe the current job-related stre...

Authors: Marcus Oldenburg, Jan Herzog, Filip Barbarewicz, Volker Harth and Hans-Joachim Jensen

Hepatitis C in healthcare personnel: follow-up analysis of treatments with direct-acting antiviral agents

Hepatitis C infections (HCV) are associated with an increase in morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study is to update the results of treatment with direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) using a larger po...

Authors: Claudia Westermann, Dana Wendeler and Albert Nienhaus

Misdiagnosis in occupational and environmental medicine: a scoping review

There has been no comprehensive review for misdiagnosis in Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM). The possible ramifications of an occupational disease (OD) or an environmental disease (ED) misdiagnosi...

Authors: Jinyoung Moon and HyeKyoung Yoo

Application of impedance measurement to investigate in vitro inhalation toxicity of bacteria

Workers of agriculture and intensive life stock farming are exposed to highly contaminated workplaces. Bioaerosol exposures are suspected to trigger respiratory health effects of the workers. So far, risk eval...

Authors: Stefanie Klar, Dierk-Christoph Poether, Jessica Reinert, Nicole Hüttig, Gunter Linsel and Udo Jäckel

Correction to: Serum levels of miR-21-5p and miR-339-5p associate with occupational trichloroethylene hypersensitivity syndrome

Authors: Wei Liu, Jian Zheng, Xiaohu Ren, Yuxuan Xie, Dafeng Lin, Peimao Li, Yuan Lv, Maggie Pui Man Hoi, Yanfang Zhang and Jianjun Liu

Correction to: Arterial abnormalities in the hands of workers with vibration white fingers – a magnetic resonance angiography case series

Authors: Per Vihlborg, Karim Makdoumi, Hana Gavlovská, Sverre Wikström and Pål Graff

Association between household exposure and cycle threshold in COVID-19 infected health care workers

Household SARS-COV-2 contact constitutes a high-risk exposure for health care workers (HCWs). Cycle threshold (Ct) of reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction testing provides an estimate of COVID-19 vi...

Authors: Ai Chien, Sandra Domeracki, Sandeep Guntur, Kristopher Taylor, Chuanyi M. Lu, Harry Lampiris and Paul D. Blanc

Burnout and work-life balance among physicians: the role of migration background

We want to analyze the effect of migration background (MB) on physician burnout and work-life balance.

Authors: Felix S. Hussenoeder, Erik Bodendieck, Ines Conrad, Franziska Jung and Steffi G. Riedel-Heller

Arterial abnormalities in the hands of workers with vibration white fingers – a magnetic resonance angiography case series

Vibration white finger (VWF) is a complication from exposure to hand-arm vibrations. Poor knowledge of the pathophysiology of VWF means that making an accurate prognosis is difficult. Thus, a better understand...

Authors: Per Vihlborg, Karim Makdoumi, Hana Gavlovská, Sverre Wikström and Pål Graff

Presentation of a participatory approach to develop preventive measures to reduce COVID-19 transmission in child care

It can be suspected that work in child care facilities is associated with an elevated exposure risk towards SARS-CoV-2 infections. It is still unclear under which conditions employees in those facilities can s...

Authors: Mathias Diebig, Susan Gritzka, Nico Dragano and Peter Angerer

New methods for assessing secondary performance attributes of sunscreens suitable for professional outdoor work

Outdoor workers (OW) are highly exposed to solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and thus at increased risk for developing skin cancer. An essential part of an overall strategy to reduce workplace UVR-exposure to ...

Authors: Marc Rocholl, Patricia Weinert, Stephan Bielfeldt, Sabrina Laing, Klaus Peter Wilhelm, Claas Ulrich and Swen Malte John

Heart rate variability as a strain indicator for psychological stress for emergency physicians during work and alert intervention: a systematic review

The workloads of emergency physicians are severe. The prevalence of burnout among emergency physicians is higher than with other physicians or compared to the general population. The analysis of heart rate var...

Authors: Beatrice Thielmann, Robert Pohl and Irina Böckelmann

Sleep-time physiological recovery is associated with eating habits in distressed working-age Finns with overweight: secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial

Association of physiological recovery with nutrition has scarcely been studied. We investigated whether physiological recovery during sleep relates to eating habits, i.e., eating behaviour and diet quality.

Authors: Elina Järvelä-Reijonen, Suvi Järvinen, Leila Karhunen, Tiina Föhr, Tero Myllymäki, Essi Sairanen, Sanni Lindroos, Katri Peuhkuri, Maarit Hallikainen, Jussi Pihlajamäki, Sampsa Puttonen, Riitta Korpela, Miikka Ermes, Raimo Lappalainen, Urho M. Kujala, Marjukka Kolehmainen…

Respiratory Disease Occupational Biomonitoring Collaborative Project (ROBoCoP): A longitudinal pilot study and implementation research in the Parisian transport company

The ROBoCoP project is launched within the EU COST Action CA16113 “CliniMARK” aiming to increase the number of clinically validated biomarkers and focused on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) biomar...

Authors: I. Guseva Canu, M. Hemmendinger, J. J. Sauvain, G. Suarez, N. B. Hopf, J. A. Pralong, T. Ben Rayana, S. Besançon, K. Sakthithasan, V. Jouannique and A. Debatisse

COVID-19 infection across workplace settings in Qatar: a comparison of COVID-19 positivity rates of screened workers from March 1st until July 31st, 2020

COVID-19 transmission was significant amongst Qatar’s working population during the March–July 2020 outbreak. The study aimed to estimate the risk of exposure for COVID-19 across various workplace settings and...

Authors: Mohamed Ghaith Al-Kuwari, Asma Ali Al-Nuaimi, Jazeel Abdulmajeed, Sandy Semaan, Hamad Eid Al-Romaihi, Mujeeb Chettiyam Kandy and Selvakumar Swamy

Mortality from Parkinson’s disease and other causes among a workforce manufacturing paraquat: an updated retrospective cohort study

Epidemiological studies of the association between Parkinson’s disease (PD) and paraquat (PQ) exposure have given inconsistent findings. The aim of the study was to update information on the risk of PD and mor...

Authors: John Andrew Tomenson and Clive Campbell

Serum levels of miR-21-5p and miR-339-5p associate with occupational trichloroethylene hypersensitivity syndrome

Trichloroethylene (TCE) hypersensitivity syndrome (THS) is a dose-independent and potentially life-threatening disease. In this study, we sought to identify THS-related miRNAs and evaluate its potential clinic...

Authors: Wei Liu, Jian Zheng, Xiaohu Ren, Yuxuan Xie, Dafeng Lin, Peimao Li, Yuan Lv, Maggie Pui Man Hoi, Yanfang Zhang and Jianjun Liu

Artificial intelligence and robotisation in the EU - should we change OHS law?

Technological progress in the twenty-first century offers real chances for economic development of the European Union (EU). The purpose of this publication is to analyse risks and threats relating to Occupatio...

Authors: Maciej Jarota

Correction to: Exposures to 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid with or without endotoxin upregulate small cell lung cancer pathway

Authors: Geetika Kaur, B. V. Sunil Kumar, Baljit Singh and R. S. Sethi

Adverse health manifestations in the hands of vibration exposed carpenters - a cross sectional study

Despite EU regulatory standards, many workers suffer injury as a result of working with hand-held vibrating tools. Our aim of this study was to confirm whether carpenters, a highly exposed group, suffer more i...

Authors: Eva Tekavec, Lotta Löfqvist, Anna Larsson, Karin Fisk, Jakob Riddar, Tohr Nilsson and Catarina Nordander

Pushing occupational rehabilitation – implementation of a therapy diary in the outpatient aftercare of psychosomatic rehabilitation may promote the occupational reintegration process: a survey of therapists and patients

Treatment results achieved after fulfilling an inpatient psychosomatic rehabilitation are often not permanent. Additional participation in outpatient rehabilitation aftercare may reduce the risk of recurrent d...

Authors: Carolin Thiel, Cynthia Richter, Franziska-Antonia Zora Samos, Marcus Heise, Thomas Frese and Thomas Fankhaenel

Exposures to 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid with or without endotoxin upregulate small cell lung cancer pathway

Pesticide residues in food and environment along with airborne contaminants such as endotoxins pose health risk. Although herbicide 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) has been associated with increased ris...

Authors: Geetika Kaur, B. V. Sunil Kumar, Baljit Singh and R. S. Sethi

Effects of person-environment fit of gender-role orientation on burnout, engagement and hair steroids as stress biomarkers among women

Analysis on gender related differences in occupational stress and burnout levels usually reveal higher occupational stress and burnout levels for women compared to men, especially in male-dominated working env...

Authors: Eva Wacker, Axel Fischer and Julia Schorlemmer

The impact of chronic co-exposure to different heavy metals on small fibers of peripheral nerves. A study of metal industry workers

Chronic exposure to heavy metals affects various organs, among them the brain and peripheral nerves. Polyneuropathy is mainly length-dependent with predominantly sensory symptoms. There have been few studies o...

Authors: Magdalena Koszewicz, Katarzyna Markowska, Marta Waliszewska-Prosol, Rafał Poreba, Paweł Gac, Anna Szymanska-Chabowska, Grzegorz Mazur, Malgorzata Wieczorek, Maria Ejma, Krzysztof Slotwinski and Slawomir Budrewicz

Prevalence of second victims, risk factors and support strategies among young German physicians in internal medicine (SeViD-I survey)

Second victims, defined as healthcare team members being traumatised by an unanticipated clinical event or outcome, are frequent in healthcare. Evidence of this phenomenon in Germany, however, is sparse. Recen...

Authors: Reinhard Strametz, Peter Koch, Anja Vogelgesang, Amie Burbridge, Hannah Rösner, Miriam Abloescher, Wolfgang Huf, Brigitte Ettl and Matthias Raspe

Addressing future work ability of employees in GP consultations: results of a cross-sectional study

In this study we examined to what extent members of a best-practice integrated healthcare model in Germany discussed their subjective future work ability with their general practitioner (GP); furthermore, we e...

Authors: Anna T. Ehmann, Peter Martus, Achim Siegel and Monika A. Rieger

Creating a measure to operationalize engaged well-being at work

Mental well-being and work engagement are both desirable, positive states of mind that help employees to better function in the workplace. While occupational researchers have argued in favor of considering bot...

Authors: Catherin Bosle, Joachim E. Fischer and Raphael M. Herr

Sleep duration and satisfaction among physicians in tertiary public hospitals in China: a large sample national survey

To investigate the sleep duration and level of satisfaction among physicians in tertiary public hospitals in China, and to explore associated factors.

Authors: Yinuo Wu, Feng Jiang, Shichao Wu, Yuanli Liu and Yi-Lang Tang

Symmetrical dental occlusion blocking – changes of body sway and weight distribution in healthy subjects across 4 age decades

Symmetrical dental occlusion blocking is used in dentistry as a quick diagnostic tool to test for potential influences of the craniomandibular system on body sway and weight distribution. This study presents t...

Authors: C. Maurer-Grubinger, F. Adjami, I. Avaniadi, W. Christian, C. Doerry, V. Fay, V. Fisch, A. Gerez, J. Goecke, U. Kaya, J. Keller, D. Krüger, J. Pflaum, L. Porsch, C. Wischnewski, B. Scharnweber…

Ongoing downplaying of the carcinogenicity of chrysotile asbestos by vested interests

Industries that mine, manufacture and sell asbestos or asbestos-containing products have a long tradition of promoting the use of asbestos, while placing the burden of economic and health costs on workers and ...

Authors: Xaver Baur and Arthur L. Frank