1,721,070 research outputs found
The time is right to establish a Global Network for Evidence for Work
No full textAccess to accurate and unbiased evidence is of paramount importance. An international survey was conducted to determine if establishing a global network for evidence synthesis in occupational safety and health (OSH) was feasible. Many institutions, organizations and experts have expressed an interest in collaborating. This newly established network is aimed at producing and stimulating high-quality syntheses along with methods developments and knowledge transfer for evidence in OSH, work participation and well-being
Shoulder Tendinopathies and Occupational Biomechanical Overload: A Critical Appraisal of Available Evidence
No full textBackground: The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between occupational exposure to biomechanical risk factors and shoulder tendinopathies. Methods: We updated recent systematic reviews about speciic shoulder disorders and work-related risk factors. MEDLINE was searched up to September 2022. Studies satisfying the following criteria were included: i) the diagnosis was based on physical examination plus imaging data (when available), and ii) the exposure assessment was based on video analysis and/or directly measured. Results: Five studies met the inclusion criteria: three cross-sectional studies identiied from published systematic reviews and two cohort studies retrieved from the update. Two studies investigated shoulder tendinitis, one supraspinatus tendinitis, and the other two rotator cuff syndrome. The diagnosis was based on physical examination, not supported by imaging techniques for all the included studies. In four out of ive studies, the exposure was assessed by experienced ergonomists with the support of video recordings. In two studies, the exposure assessment was further supplemented by force gauge measurements or direct measurements of upper arm elevation. Only the combined exposure of working with arms above shoulder level with forceful hand exertion appears to be associated with rotator cuff syndrome: i) a cohort study reported an HR=1.11 (95%CI 1.01-1.22) for each unit increase in forceful repetition rate when the upper arm is flexed & GE;45 & DEG; for & GE;29% of the working time; and ii) a cross-sectional study showed an OR=2.43 (95%CI 1.04-5.68) for the combination of upper arm flexion & GE;45 & DEG; for more than 15% of the time with a duty cycle of forceful exertions more than 9% of the time. Conclusions: There is moderate evidence of a causal association between shoulder tendinopathy and combined exposures of working above shoulder level with forceful hand exertion. The evidence is insufficient for any single biomechanical exposure on its own. High-quality cohort studies with direct exposure measures and objective diagnostic criteria are needed. The occupational origin of shoulder tendinopathies is still an open question that must be properly answered
Heavy lifting at work and risk of retinal detachment: A population-based register study in Denmark
Full text linkObjectives: To investigate the relationship between rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) and frequent heavy lifting in a Danish working population through national register data. Methods: A dynamic cohort of all men aged 20-59 years in Denmark was followed through the Danish Occupational Hospitalisation Register from 1995 to 2010 for diagnosed RRD. Occupational categories were classified according to their potential for heavy lifting in 4 main groups: heavy lifters, manual workers unlikely to be heavy lifters, other manual workers and non-manual workers unlikely to be heavy lifters. The agestandardised rate of diagnosed RRD for heavy lifting occupations was compared with that experienced by the other 3 occupational categories. Rate ratios (RRs) and 95% CIs were estimated through a Poisson regression model adjusted for calendar period and age group. Results: The highest age-standardised rate of diagnosed RRD was recorded among non-manual workers performing occupational activities unlikely to be associated with heavy lifting (18.0 cases per 100 000 person-years). The RR for workers in jobs expected to entail a high frequency of heavy lifting compared with manual workers whose occupation was unlikely to be associated with heavy lifting was 0.91 (95% CI 0.73 to 1.14), while in comparison with other manual workers, it was 0.93 (95% CI 0.78 to 1.11). The RR compared with non-manual workers in occupations unlikely to entail heavy lifting was 0.51 (95% CI 0.43 to 0.60). Conclusions: These findings do not support an association of occupational heavy lifting with diagnosed RRD. The epidemiological evidence for this association is still inconclusive. Future studies should use a more specific measure of exposure to resolve the outstanding uncertainties
A survival analysis of vibration-related occupational disease and implications for evaluating interventions
No full textBackground Regular exposure to hand-arm vibration can lead to hand-arm vibration (HAVS) and carpal tunnel (CTS) syndromes.
EU Directive 2002/44/EC, which aims to improve surveillance and reduce exposure to vibration at work, defines exposure limits for hand-arm-vibration. The aim is to investigate whether the staged implementation of the directive since 2005 has been associated with a change in the incidence of HAVS or CTS in European
countries. To model the range of potential outcomes of the intervention, we sought to define an exposure-risk relationship based on the best available prospective longitudinal data for exposed workers.
Methods In a series of studies, which have been subject of previous
publications,1,2 forestry and stone workers were monitored at intervals of 1 to 5 years, on 1 to 4 occasions. Health status, annual hours of exposure and magnitude of vibration were recorded. In the present study, a novel analytical approach was applied to define a parametric survival function describing the
incidence of HAVS as a function of various exposure metrics.
Results Incidence of the vascular condition vibration-induced white finger was well described by a Weibull distribution with an increasing hazard rate. The resulting parametric equation reveals the role of duration of exposure and the vibration magnitude (m s-2) relative to a threshold magnitude.
Conclusion The exposure-risk relationship, which differs in some respects from the exposure relationship described in current standards (e.g. ISO 5349-1, 2001), has a simple, mechanistically based form that can be easily applied to simulate the consequences of workplace interventions
Efficacia degli interventi in medicina del lavoro: gli studi della Cochrane Collaboration
No full textSulla scia delle idee di Archibald Cochrane, molto è stato fatto per orientare l’attività dei medici agli interventi di provata efficacia. Anche nel campo della prevenzione di infortuni e malattie da lavoro, si sta lavorando alla produzione ed alla successiva raccolta di valutazioni di efficacia, sebbene si debbano superare complessità sia nella ricerca delle prove che nell’attribuzione del loro giusto peso, punto di discussione tra chi privilegia la validità interna degli studi e chi invece predilige applicare i risultati comunque già ottenuti. Non sempre è applicabile il disegno del trial randomizzato controllato, in prevenzione. In alcuni casi, forniscono informazioni anche serie temporali o studi prima-dopo, con controllo. Il reperimento di questi studi e delle revisioni degli stessi permette di ottenere dati relativi all’efficacia degli interventi che si vogliono applicare e dei quali poi si vorrà valutare l’efficacia. La diffusione dei risultati di una valutazione riveste quindi grande importanza. La Cochrane Collaboration, nata nel 1993 e fondata per raccogliere, valutare criticamente e diffondere le informazioni relative all’efficacia degli interventi sanitari, ha ora un gruppo di revisione relativo al campo della medicina del lavoro, che sta attivamente promuovendo la valutazione critica delle prove ed evidenze disponibili in letteratura
Notifica e differenze regionali
No full textNonostante la notifica di malattia professionale sia obbligatoria per legge in molte nazioni, la mancata o non corretta notifica è un fenomeno che interessa tutti i paesi industrializzati. Valutare quantitativamente l’entità della mancata o non corretta notifica è un compito arduo, non esistendo modelli di riferimento per la stima dei valori attesi.
I dati INAIL indicano un’alta eterogeneità dei tassi di certificazione di malattie professionali nelle diverse aree del nostro Paese. Questo fenomeno può essere studiato per cercare di comprendere le ragioni che a livello territoriale possono portare ad una non corretta notifica delle malattie professionali, sia nel senso della sotto- che della sovra-notifica
Occupational Infections Among Workers in Europe: Protocol for a Scoping Review
Full text linkBackgroundWorkers may be exposed to different infectious agents, putting them at risk of developing occupational diseases. This can occur in many ways, through deliberate use of specific microorganisms or through potential exposure from close contact with biological material. Infection prevention and control measures against biohazards can reduce the risk of infection among workers. During the last few decades, an increasing proportion of workers in Europe have been exposed to infectious biological agents in their workplace. Knowledge gaps on this topic in Europe have limited our understanding of the overall phenomenon in occupational settings.
ObjectiveThis study aims to understand the extent and type of evidence on the epidemiology of occupational or work-related infections caused by bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitical agents in European countries, the factors affecting their occurrence among workers, and the burden of disease among workers due to occupational risk.
MethodsThe review will be conducted following the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews and the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines. This review will consider studies that include data on the epidemiology of occupational infections, risk factors and determinants, and burden of disease among workers employed in specific occupational sectors in European countries in the period 2010-2023. The search will include MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. Independent reviewers (including GD, SC, AR, PD, and SM) will screen the titles, abstracts, and full texts of the selected studies. Data extraction will be performed using a tool developed by the researchers. The data will be mapped and analyzed according to the type of extracted data.
ResultsThe literature search through different scientific databases started in April 2024 and is expected to be completed by December 2024. The findings will be extracted using an ad hoc data extraction tool, and relevant results will be presented in narrative and tabular form.
ConclusionsThis scoping review aims to provide rigorous evidence to fill the knowledge gap in the epidemiology of occupational or work-related infections in European countries, the factors affecting their occurrence, and the burden of disease in different professional settings. Such findings could improve the understanding of this complex occupational phenomenon in the European context, enabling more accurate and up-to-date surveillance of infections incurred in the workplace.
International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)PRR1-10.2196/5960
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Associations Between Body Anthropometric Measures and Severity of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
No full textObjective: To assess the associations between carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) severity and selected anthropometric and obesity indexes.
Design: We performed a case-control study. Clinical and electrophysiological severity of CTS was classified as mild, moderate, or severe based
on validated scales. Body and hand anthropometric characteristics were measured at the time of the electrodiagnostic study. We estimated the
relative risk ratios (RRRs) of CTS severity by fitting multinomial logistic regression models adjusted by age and sex. In addition, we fitted
multivariable models, including age, sex, wrist ratio, hand ratio, body mass index (BMI), and waist/stature ratio.
Setting: Electromyography laboratories.
Participants: Consecutive patients (NZ1087), those with CTS (nZ340) and those without CTS (nZ747), were enrolled.
Interventions: Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures: Associations between CTS severity and selected anthropometric and obesity indexes.
Results: We observed associations between many anthropometric indexes and CTS severity. Among obesity indexes, the waist/stature ratio, and
among hand anthropometric indexes, the wrist/palm ratio, showed the highest RRRs for the clinical and electrophysiological severity scales. The
RRRs of severe CTS (adjusted for age and sex) for the wrist/palm ratio were 3.5 for the clinical scale and 2.4 for the electrophysiological scale.
The RRRs of severe CTS for the waist/stature ratio were 2.3 for the clinical scale and 2.0 for the electrophysiological scale. In the multivariable
models, both BMI and the waist/stature ratio were associated with the outcomes.
Conclusions: Different configurations of the body and, in particular, the hand and wrist system may influence the occurrence and severity of CTS.
Multiple obesity indexes, possibly including the waist/stature ratio, should be considered when investigating the association between body
composition and CTS. Future studies should determine whether in obese subjects with CTS the weight and waist circumference loss produces an
improvement in CTS symptoms and recovery of distal conduction velocity of the median nerve.
Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2016;97:1456-6
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