Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine最新文献

{"title":"Association between unpredictable work schedule and work-family conflict in Korea.","authors":"Sang Moon Choi, Chan Woo Kim, Hyoung Ouk Park, Yong Tae Park","doi":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e46","DOIUrl":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e46","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>As unpredictable work schedule (UWS) has increased worldwide, various studies have been conducted on the resulting health effects on workers. However, research on the effect of UWS on workers' well-being in Korea is still insufficient. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between UWS and work-family conflict (WFC) using 6th Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Both UWS and WFC were measured using self-reported questionnaires, using data from the 6th KWCS conducted between 2020 and 2021, including 31,859 participants. UWS was measured by questions regarding the frequency of changes in work schedules and limited advanced notice. WFC was measured by questions regarding work to family and family to work conflicts. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate the association between UWS and WFC.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The prevalence of UWS was higher among men, those under 40 years old, service and sales workers and blue-collar workers, and those with higher salaries. Workplace size also influenced UWS prevalence, with smaller workplaces (less than 50 employees) showing a higher prevalence. The odds ratio (OR) for WFC was significantly higher in workers with UWS compared to workers without UWS after adjusting for gender, age, marital status, occupation, salary, education, weekly working hours, shift work, company size, and having a child under the age of 18 years, employment status (OR: 3.71; 95% confidence interval: 3.23-4.25).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The analysis of nationwide data revealed that UWS interferes with workers' performance of family roles, which can lead to WFC. Our findings suggest that it is crucial to implement policies to address unfair work schedule management, promoting a healthier work-life balance and fostering a conducive environment for family responsibilities.</p>","PeriodicalId":46631,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine","volume":"35 ","pages":"e46"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10751215/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139040721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Research misconduct using a ghostwriter in a paper-writing company.","authors":"Kyunghee Jung-Choi","doi":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e45","DOIUrl":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e45","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46631,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine","volume":"35 ","pages":"e45"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10751211/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139040725","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dynamics of pre-shift and post-shift lung function parameters among wood workers in Ghana.","authors":"John Ekman,&nbsp;Philip Quartey,&nbsp;Abdala Mumuni Ussif,&nbsp;Niklas Ricklund,&nbsp;Daniel Lawer Egbenya,&nbsp;Gideon Akuamoah Wiafe,&nbsp;Korantema Mawuena Tsegah,&nbsp;Akua Karikari,&nbsp;Håkan Löfstedt,&nbsp;Francis Tanam Djankpa","doi":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e39","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e39","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Diseases affecting the lungs and airways contribute significantly to the global burden of disease. The problem in low- and middle-income countries appears to be exacerbated by a shift in global manufacturing base to these countries and inadequate enforcement of environmental and safety standards. In Ghana, the potential adverse effects on respiratory function associated with occupational wood dust exposure have not been thoroughly investigated.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Sixty-four male sawmill workers and 64 non-woodworkers participated in this study. The concentration of wood dust exposure, prevalence and likelihood of association of respiratory symptoms with wood dust exposure and changes in pulmonary function test (PFT) parameters in association with wood dust exposure were determined from dust concentration measurements, symptoms questionnaire and lung function test parameters.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Sawmill workers were exposed to inhalable dust concentration of 3.09 ± 0.04 mg/m³ but did not use respirators and engaged in personal grooming habits that are known to increase dust inhalation. The sawmill operators also showed higher prevalence and likelihoods of association with respiratory symptoms, a significant cross-shift decline in some PFT parameters and a shift towards a restrictive pattern of lung dysfunction by end of daily shift. The before-shift PFT parameters of woodworkers were comparable to those of non-woodworkers, indicating a lack of chronic effects of wood dust exposure.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Wood dust exposure at the study site was associated with acute respiratory symptoms and acute changes in some PFT parameters. This calls for institution and enforcement of workplace and environmental safety policies to minimise exposure at sawmill operating sites, and ultimately, decrease the burden of respiratory diseases.</p>","PeriodicalId":46631,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine","volume":"35 ","pages":"e39"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10621010/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71487277","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Association between hearing loss and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein: the Kangbuk Samsung Cohort Study.","authors":"Jihoon Kim,&nbsp;Yesung Lee,&nbsp;Eunhye Seo,&nbsp;Daehoon Kim,&nbsp;Jaehong Lee,&nbsp;Youshik Jeong,&nbsp;Seonghyun Kwon,&nbsp;Jinsook Jeong,&nbsp;Woncheol Lee","doi":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e38","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e38","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Hearing loss (HL) is linked to an elevated risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The pathogeneses of HL and CVD commonly involve inflammatory responses. Previous studies investigated elevated levels of inflammatory biomarkers in subjects with HL, however, their findings did not demonstrate statistical significance. In our cross-sectional and longitudinal study, we investigated the correlation between HL and increased high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels to determine how HL is associated with CVDs.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a cross-sectional study with workers aged over 18 years who underwent health check-ups at our institution between 2012 and 2018 (n = 566,507), followed by conducting a longitudinal study of workers aged > 18 who underwent health checkups at least twice at our institution between 2012 and 2018 (n = 173,794). The definition of HL was as an average threshold of ≥ 20 dB in pure-tone air conduction at 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 kHz in both ears. The incidence of increased hsCRP levels throughout the follow-up period was defined as a level exceeding 3 mg/L. Logistic regression and generalized estimating equations were performed to estimate the risk of increased hsCRP levels according to the occurrence of HL in groups stratified by age.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In the cross-sectional study, the multivariate-adjusted odds ratio (OR) was 1.17 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02-1.34); the OR was 0.99 (95% CI: 0.80-1.22) in those under 40 and 1.28 (1.08-1.53) in those over 40. In the longitudinal study, the multivariable-adjusted OR was 1.05 (95% CI: 0.92-1.19); the OR was 1.10 (95% CI: 0.90-1.35) in those under 40 and 1.20 (1.01-1.43) in those over 40.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This cross-sectional and longitudinal study identified an association between HL and increased hsCRP levels in workers aged over 40 years.</p>","PeriodicalId":46631,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine","volume":"35 ","pages":"e38"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10621009/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71487276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Retraction Notice to: A pilot study to assess a risk of a high-risk group of low back pain membership in workers who perform the manual material handling tasks (<i>Ann Occup Environ Med</i> 2021;33:e34).","authors":"","doi":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e37","DOIUrl":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e37","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>[This retracts the article e34 in vol. 33, PMID: 35024151.].</p>","PeriodicalId":46631,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine","volume":"35 ","pages":"e37"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/16/3b/aoem-35-e37.PMC10577372.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41239799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The impacts of working time flexibilization on occupational safety and health: an expert survey.","authors":"Daseul Moon,&nbsp;Hyunjoo Kim","doi":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e20","DOIUrl":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e20","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The policy proposal by the current Korean government that proposes flexible overtime rules is causing social controversy. This study has explored the 612 experts' opinions on the occupational safety and health impacts of the policy using an online self-report survey. They expected short-term overwork (87.25%), overwork inequality (86.44%), irregular working hours (84.31%), chronic overwork (84.15%), long working hours (83.66%), and unpredictability of working hours (81.86%) as a result of the policy change. They also responded that the policy change would increase industrial accident deaths (87.25%), mental illnesses (87.09%), deaths due to overwork or cardiovascular diseases (83.84%), and accidents (83.33%). They disagreed that the government's flexibilization policy, while agreeing that the necessity of policies on regulating night work (94.77%), guaranteeing wages to eliminate overtime (90.36%), establishing working time regulations for the bogus self-employed (82.84%), and applying the 52-hour workweek system to all workplaces (76.47%). These expert opinions are consistent with previous research on the health effects of working hours.</p>","PeriodicalId":46631,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine","volume":"1 1","pages":"e20"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10622249/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69725625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Working hours and the regulations in Korea.","authors":"Inah Kim,&nbsp;Jeehee Min","doi":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e18","DOIUrl":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e18","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>South Korea has the highest policy priority for working hour regulations because it has longer annual working hours than other Organization for Economic Development Co-operation and Development countries and has fewer holidays. According to the results of the Working Conditions Surveys between 2006 and 2020, in 2020, 6% of wage earners worked for > 52 hours weekly. The percentage of workers exceeding 52 hours weekly has decreased over time; however, disparities exist based on age, industry, occupation, company type, and company size, particularly in service-, arts-, and culture-related occupations and workplaces with fewer than 5 employees. South Korea's working hours system is greatly influenced by the 52-hour weekly maximum; sometimes, a maximum of 64-69 hours, including overtime, is theoretically possible. To ensure healthy working hours, it is important to actively protect workers who fall through the cracks, such as those in businesses with fewer than 5 employees.</p>","PeriodicalId":46631,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine","volume":"1 1","pages":"e18"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10622248/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69725086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Statement by the Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Medicine on the proposed reform of working hours in South Korea.","authors":"Hee-Tae Kang,&nbsp;Chul-Ju Kim,&nbsp;Dong-Wook Lee,&nbsp;Seung-Gwon Park,&nbsp;Jinwoo Lee,&nbsp;Kanwoo Youn,&nbsp;Hwan-Cheol Kim,&nbsp;Kyoung Sook Jeong,&nbsp;Hansoo Song,&nbsp;Sung-Kyung Kim,&nbsp;Sang-Baek Koh","doi":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e17","DOIUrl":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e17","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The current 52-hour workweek in South Korea consists of 40 hours of regular work and 12 hours of overtime. Although the average working hours in South Korea is declining, it is still 199 hours longer than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average of 1,716 hours per year. In view to this, the South Korean government has now proposed to reform the workweek, mainly intending to increase the workweek to 69 hours when the workload is heavy. This reform, by increasing the labor intensity due to long working hours, goes against the global trend of reducing work hours for a safe and healthy working environment. Long working hours can lead to increased cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases, industrial accidents, mental health problems, and safety accidents due to lack of concentration. In conclusion, the Korean government's working hour reform plan can have a negative impact on workers' health, and therefore it should be thoroughly reviewed and modified.</p>","PeriodicalId":46631,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine","volume":"1 1","pages":"e17"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10622250/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69725073","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Working hours and the regulations for night shift workers.","authors":"Tae-Won Jang","doi":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e19","DOIUrl":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e19","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There are several types of shift work in Korea: rotating shift, 24-hour shift, day-night shift, fixed night work, and.so on. As a result of analyzing the 8th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the 6th Korean Working Condition Survey, Korean shift workers accounted for 11.6%-13.9% of wage workers. Weekly working hours of shift workers were 57.69 ± 1.73 (24-hours shift) and 49.97 ± 0.67 (fixed night shift), which were significantly longer than day workers. To prevent health consequences of night work, many countries regulate the working hours of night work not to exceed 7-9 hours a day. However, Korea does not regulate working hours for night work, and some occupations may work more hours than the prescribed overtime hours. To prevent health consequences and reduce working hours for Korean night shift workers, it is necessary to regulate the working hours of night shift workers by law.</p>","PeriodicalId":46631,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine","volume":"1 1","pages":"e19"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10622251/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69725485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Association between irregular working hours and work-related musculoskeletal pain: results from the 6th Korean Working Conditions Survey.","authors":"Munyoung Yang,&nbsp;Jun-Pyo Myong,&nbsp;Jongin Lee,&nbsp;Min Young Park,&nbsp;Mo-Yeol Kang","doi":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e21","DOIUrl":"10.35371/aoem.2023.35.e21","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Recently, irregular working hours have become controversial issues in Korea. The health impact of irregular working hours on the work-related musculoskeletal pain (MSP) is scarcely researched before. We sought to investigate the association between irregular working hours and work-related MSP among South Korean workers.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study used data from the sixth Korean Working Conditions Survey in 2020. The prevalence of work-related MSP was analyzed using the χ² test. A multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the association between irregular working hours and work-related MSP. We conducted stratified analysis by gender, weekly working hours, and workers' control over their working hours. We calculated the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of work-related MSP for irregular working hours combined with weekly working hours.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The OR for work-related MSP was significantly higher in the population with irregular working hours than in the population with regular working hours (OR: 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.29-1.58). Irregular and long (> 52 hours/week) working hours have the highest risk of work-related MSP in both genders (in men, OR: 3.48 [95% CI: 2.53-4.78]; in women, OR: 2.41 [95% CI: 1.46-4.00]).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Irregular working hours were associated with work-related MSP in Korea. The association was magnified with long working hours. Reform of the Korean Labor Standards Act leading to increase irregular working hours may induce adverse health outcome.</p>","PeriodicalId":46631,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine","volume":"1 1","pages":"e21"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10622252/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69725751","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}