Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology最新文献

{"title":"How to evaluate digital leadership: a cross-sectional study.","authors":"Kevin Claassen,&nbsp;Dominique Rodil Dos Anjos,&nbsp;Jan Kettschau,&nbsp;Horst Christoph Broding","doi":"10.1186/s12995-021-00335-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12995-021-00335-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>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 are particularly affected by the digital transformation processes. Therefore, a score to measure the construct of digital leadership competence in the context of virtual-based workstation was developed and tested.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Based on an online survey with n = 546 employees at virtual-based workstations in municipal administrations in 2020, the instrument is tested regarding selectivity (coefficients), dimensionality (principal component analysis), homogeneity (inter-product-moment correlations), reliability (Cronbach's α) and construct validity (correlation with general leadership skills).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The instrument can be considered selective, one-dimensional, homogeneous, reliable and constructively valid in the sense of the formulated hypotheses. By integrating the employees' perspective, the instrument aims to be one of the first of its kind to initiate a scientific further discourse. Among other things, the categorization of the co-determination component as either traditional or digital leadership can be discussed.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The developed instrument for measuring digital leadership performs well concerning the aspects of discriminatory power, one-dimensionality, homogeneity, reliability as well as construct validity. It aims to induce further research and a scientific discourse on the topic of health-oriented leadership within the world of work 4.0.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"16 1","pages":"44"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8485107/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39479745","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Powered air-purifying respirators used during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic significantly reduce speech perception.","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, Marc Diensthuber","doi":"10.1186/s12995-021-00334-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12995-021-00334-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>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 evaluate limitations in hearing and communication when using a powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) system to protect against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission and to assess the benefit of a headset.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Acoustic properties of the PAPR system were measured using a head and torso simulator. Audiological tests (tone audiometry, Freiburg speech test, Oldenburg sentence test (OLSA)) were performed in normal-hearing subjects (n = 10) to assess hearing with PAPR. The audiological test setup also included simulation of conditions in which the target speaker used either a PAPR, a filtering face piece (FFP) 3 respirator, or a surgical face mask.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Audiological measurements revealed that sound insulation by the PAPR headtop and noise, generated by the blower-assisted respiratory protection system, resulted in significantly deteriorated hearing thresholds (4.0 ± 7.2 dB hearing level (HL) vs. 49.2 ± 11.0 dB HL, p < 0.001) and speech recognition scores in quiet (100.0 ± 0.0% vs. 2.5 ± 4.2%, p < 0.001; OLSA: 20.8 ± 1.8 dB vs. 61.0 ± 3.3 dB SPL, p < 0.001) when compared to hearing without PAPR. Hearing with PAPR was significantly improved when the subjects were equipped with an in-ear headset (p < 0.001). Sound attenuation by FFP3 respirators and surgical face masks had no clinically relevant impact on speech perception.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The PAPR system evaluated here can be considered for high-risk procedures in SARS-CoV-2-positive patients, provided that hearing and communication of the surgical team are optimized by the additional use of a headset.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"16 1","pages":"43"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8481762/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39473377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Digitally connected work and its consequences for strain - a systematic review.","authors":"Sabrina Zolg,&nbsp;Barbara Heiden,&nbsp;Britta Herbig","doi":"10.1186/s12995-021-00333-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12995-021-00333-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>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 restructuring tasks among others are demands that can be stressful and impair health.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Our aim was to identify (clusters of) working conditions associated with digitally connected work and to analyze their relations with strain, that is, health and well-being outcomes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Between May and October 2019, a search string was used to systematically search six databases (EMBASE, Medline, PSYNDEX, PsycInfo, SocIndex, WISO) for German and English texts according to the PEO scheme. The methodological quality was assessed using the Quality Assessment Tool for Studies with Diverse Design.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>14 studies were identified. Despite the search string containing latest technologies, we identified mostly studies from the 1980s/90s. To aggregate findings, a categorization of work factors (cognitive demands, social factors, organizational factors, environmental factors) and health factors (motivation/satisfaction, reduced well-being/affective symptoms, physiological parameters/somatic complaints) is introduced. The most frequently identified work factors belong to the category of cognitive demands. For health factors, motivation/satisfaction was identified most often. 475 associations were found in total.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This systematic review provides an overview of work and health factors that have been studied between 1981 and 2019. Recent texts frequently study individualized health factors (e.g., life satisfaction) whereas objective physiological measurement data and objective survey methods such as workplace analysis are not used. This latter approach was predominantly found in the older studies. In order to obtain a comprehensive picture, however, it is worthwhile to use a combination of these subjective and objective approaches for future studies in this field.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"16 1","pages":"42"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8456588/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39439740","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Eating behaviour and weight development of European and Asian seafarers during stay on board and at home.","authors":"Felix Alexander Neumann,&nbsp;Lukas Belz,&nbsp;Dorothee Dengler,&nbsp;Volker Harth,&nbsp;Thomas von Münster,&nbsp;Joachim Westenhöfer,&nbsp;Marcus Oldenburg,&nbsp;Birgit-Christiane Zyriax","doi":"10.1186/s12995-021-00329-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12995-021-00329-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>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 whether seafarers gain weight on board or at home and whether eating habits differ in both settings.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>As part of the e-healthy ship project, cross-sectional data were collected in two different measurements. In the first investigation on board of three merchant ships of German shipping companies, differences in eating behaviour at home compared to on board ships were assessed for 18 Burmese, 26 Filipino and 20 European seafarers. In a second study, BMI, weight development and location of body weight change of 543 Filipino and 277 European seafarers were examined using an online questionnaire on 68 ships.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>According to the board examinations, foods and beverages consumed on merchant ships varied widely from seafarers' diets in their home country. Burmese, Filipino and European seafarers equally reported to consume more fruit (z = 4.95, p < .001, r = .62) and vegetables (z = 6.21, p < .001, r = .79), but less coke (z = -5.00, p < .001, r = .76) when at home. Furthermore, culturally different changes were found across all other foods and beverages. The online questionnaire revealed that 45.8% of seafarers were overweight (55.4% Europeans vs. 40.8% Filipinos, p < .001) and 9.8% obese. Moreover, a higher percentage of Europeans compared to Filipinos reported weight gain over the course of their professional career (50.2% vs. 40.7%, p = .007). A sub-analysis of seafarers with weight gain found that more Europeans than Filipinos gained weight at home (43.9% vs. 23.1%, p < .001).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Both, home and working on board merchant ships, represent very different living environments which may affect seafarers' lifestyle and eating habits in various ways and thus could favour or inhibit weight gain. From our results, it appears that the body weight and eating habits of Asian seafarers in particular are adversely affected by the working and living conditions on board. Further prospective studies are required to prove this hypothesis.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"16 1","pages":"41"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8439037/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39415748","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genome-wide mRNA profiling identifies the NRF2-regulated lymphocyte oxidative stress status in patients with silicosis.","authors":"Yingzheng Zhao,&nbsp;Guangcui Xu,&nbsp;Haibin Li,&nbsp;Meiyu Chang,&nbsp;Cheng Xiong,&nbsp;Yingjun Tao,&nbsp;Yi Guan,&nbsp;Yuchun Li,&nbsp;Sanqiao Yao","doi":"10.1186/s12995-021-00332-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12995-021-00332-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>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 erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2)-regulated antioxidant genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). As NRF2 is a redox-sensitive transcription factor, its possible roles and underlying mechanism in the treatment of silicosis need to be clarified.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Ninety-two male patients with silicosis and 87 male healthy volunteers were randomly selected. PBMCs were isolated from fresh blood from patients with silicosis and healthy controls. The lymphocyte oxidative stress state was investigated by evaluating NRF2 expression and NRF2-dependent antioxidative genes in PBMCs from patients with silicosis. Key differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and signaling pathways were identified utilizing RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and bioinformatics technology. Gene set enrichment analysis was used to identify the differences in NRF2 signaling networks between patients with silicosis and healthy controls.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The number of monocytes was significantly higher in patients with silicosis than that of healthy controls. Furthermore, RNA-Seq findings were confirmed using quantitative polymerase chain reaction and revealed that NRF2-regulated DEGs were associated with glutathione metabolism, transforming growth factor-β, and the extracellular matrix receptor interaction signaling pathway in PBMCs from patients with silicosis. The top 10 hub genes were identified by PPI analysis: SMAD2, MAPK3, THBS1, SMAD3, ITGB3, integrin alpha-V (ITGAV), von Willebrand factor (VWF), BMP4, CD44, and SMAD7.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings suggest that NRF2 signaling regulates the lymphocyte oxidative stress state and may contribute to fibrogenic responses in human PBMCs. Therefore, NRF2 might serve as a novel preventive and therapeutic candidate for silicosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"16 1","pages":"40"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8436508/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39432238","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The pupillary light reflex (PLR) as a marker for the ability to work or drive - a feasibility study.","authors":"Andrea Kaifie,&nbsp;Martin Reugels,&nbsp;Thomas Kraus,&nbsp;Michael Kursawe","doi":"10.1186/s12995-021-00330-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12995-021-00330-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>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 age, sex or iris color. PLR alterations have been described in people after alcohol consumption, as well. However, the effect of sleep deprivation on PLR parameters is still under debate.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of PLR measurements in sleep-deprived and alcohol-exposed participants. In addition, we wanted to identify PLR parameters that were altered by sleep deprivation and alcohol exposure.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Altogether n = 50 participants have been included in this study. Differences in the PLR parameters initial diameter (d_init), latency (∆t_lat), acceleration (∆t_a), contraction velocity (ϑ_con), quarter dilatation velocity (ϑ_1/4dil), half dilatation time (∆t_1/2), and the line integral (L(0.3500)) have been evaluated between baseline, sleep deprivation, as well as alcohol exposure. In a generalized linear mixed models design, we could observe statistically significant associations between the type of exposure and the PLR parameters half dilatation time and half dilatation time after the first light pulse (all p < 0.05). The participants' latency showed a significant association in dependence of the type of exposure after the second light pulse (p < 0.05).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our study delivers first promising results to further develop devices that may identify conditions that impair the ability to work or drive.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"16 1","pages":"39"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8422642/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39395321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prevalence and risk factors for latent tuberculosis in polish healthcare workers: the comparison of tuberculin skin test and interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) performance.","authors":"Monika Szturmowicz,&nbsp;Beata Broniarek-Samson,&nbsp;Urszula Demkow","doi":"10.1186/s12995-021-00326-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12995-021-00326-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>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, nevertheless no specific surveillance is widely recommended in this group of professionals. Both, tuberculin skin test (TST) and interferon-gamma-release-assays (IGRAs) are widely applied to detect latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence and risks of LTBI in the population of Polish HCW, to identify factors associated with LTBI, as well as to determine the rate of the discordance between the results of the two applied tests in relation to various factors in a TB endemic setting. The study participants were recruited from several health care facilities (hospitals and outpatients clinics) all over the country. Laboratory personnel included 156 persons from both TB and non-TB laboratories (118 clinical pathologists, 38 laboratory technicians), 31 medical doctors, 29 nurses (from both TB and non-TB wards and from family practices), 6 other medical employees (patients assistants). Out of examined group 88 (40%) declared constant (everyday) occupational contact with TB patients and/or contagious biologic materials, 134 (60%) reported sporadic (incidental) contact (few times a year). Administrative HCWs who were not in direct contact with patients were not included in the study group.</p><p><strong>Material and methods: </strong>LTBI status was prospectively evaluated in 222 HCW, 204 females, 18 males, aged 40.8 ± 9 years, with tuberculin skin test (TST) and interferon gamma release assay (QuantiFERON-TB-Gold in Tube - QFT GIT).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>TST ≥ 10 mm was found in 58% of HCW, QFT GIT ≥ 0.35 IU/ml in 23%. Nevertheless the relative number of positive QFT GIT in HCW above 45 years of age exceeded those obtained in general population (prevalence of positive QTF test in polish adult population is around 23%). The risk of obtaining positive QFT GIT was significantly increased in the participants older than 44 years (OR = 4.95, 95%CI:2.375-10.193), in those employed > 10 years (OR = 2.726, 95%CI:1.126-6.599), and in those who reported the direct contact with tuberculous patients or infected biological materials (OR = 8.135, 95%CI:1.297-51.016). The concordance between TST and IGRA was poor (kappa 0.23), especially in younger participants, possibly due to BCG vaccination in childhood.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The increased risk of LTBI in Polish HCW was related to age, duration of employment and contact with infectious patients or their biological specimens. TB infection control measures in health care facilities in Poland are still insufficient. It is crucial to increase awareness about the importance of detecting and treating LTBI of HCW.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"16 1","pages":"38"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8411527/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39374966","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Electrocardiographic abnormalities in medically screened German military aircrew.","authors":"Norbert Guettler,&nbsp;Stefan Sammito","doi":"10.1186/s12995-021-00327-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12995-021-00327-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>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 occupations. Given the low number of pathological results leading to disqualification or restriction however, there is an ongoing debate as to how often screening ECGs should be performed in different age groups.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We restrospectively analyzed 8275 resting 12-lead ECGs registered between 2007 and 2020 in the German Air Force Centre of Aerospace Medicine. Findings were categorized according to consensus recommendations published by the NATO Working Group on Occupational Cardiology in Military Aircrew, based on ECG screening criteria published for athletes which were used at the time of registration. Age, sex, height, weight, and body mass index of the probands were also captured. Additionally, 4839 pilot and non-pilot aircrew members were analyzed longitudinally over a maximum period of 13.4 years.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Out of all the ECGs only 18 revealed findings requiring further investigation, and only one individual was temporarily disqualified because of a ventricular pre-excitation (delta wave) as a sign of an antegrade conducting accessory pathway. The longitudinal analysis of 25,829 ECGs revealed 28 abnormalities requiring further investigation, and only two ECG findings (in probands aged 48.8 and 59.1 years) led to temporary, or permanent disqualification. In a third case, the ECG showed signs of a myocardial infarction, which was already known from the proband's history.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Initial ECG screening for asymptomatic aircrew revealed extremely low numbers of individuals requiring further investigation in our cohort. This would appear to justify an initial screening ECG and follow-up ECGs at certain intervals starting at a certain age, but routine ECG screening of applicants in professions with a higher risk tolerance or frequent, e.g. annual, follow-up ECGs in younger aircrew is not supported by our data because of the minimal yield of ECG findings requiring further investigation.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"16 1","pages":"37"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8407018/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39370656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A mass casualty incident of infectious diseases at the port of Hamburg: an analysis of organizational structures and emergency concepts.","authors":"Angelina Klein,&nbsp;Julian Heuser,&nbsp;Esther Henning,&nbsp;Nadine Sprössel,&nbsp;Ann-Christin Kordsmeyer,&nbsp;Marcus Oldenburg,&nbsp;Natascha Mojtahedzadeh,&nbsp;Jan Heidrich,&nbsp;Kristina Carolin Militzer,&nbsp;Lukas Belz,&nbsp;Thomas von Münster,&nbsp;Volker Harth,&nbsp;Lena Ehlers,&nbsp;Jens de Boer,&nbsp;Scarlett Kleine-Kampmann,&nbsp;Matthias Boldt,&nbsp;Martin Dirksen-Fischer,&nbsp;Lyubomir Haralambiev,&nbsp;Denis Gümbel,&nbsp;Axel Ekkernkamp,&nbsp;M Sinan Bakir","doi":"10.1186/s12995-021-00324-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12995-021-00324-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>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 the current threat from the COVID-19 pandemic and associated outbreaks on cruise ships, previous MCI-ID were especially caused by pathogens such as Influenza virus or Norovirus. The first step was, to get an overview of processes and resources using the example of the Port of Hamburg, and to show the associated interaction of involved parties. This will serve as a basis for developing an operational strategy and offers the opportunity to optimize current work processes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A selective literature research using specified key words was performed and existing MCI concepts were received from local authorities. Identified structures and processes were analyzed in a multiple step process and also brought together through discussions in workshops with involved organizations and other experts. Additionally, the distances between the nearest rescue stations and selected hospitals from the Port of Hamburg were analyzed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The current available concepts are proven, but an adaptation to an MCI-ID shows opportunities for a further cross-organizational development. The organizational structure of an MCI-ID in the Port of Hamburg was described, including a large number of involved organizations (n = 18). There are 17 involved fire and rescue stations and the port can be reached from these locations within 6 to 35 min. Based on their specialist expertise, 14 of the 31 listed clinics were selected.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The purpose of the study was to provide an analysis of the current situation and show how involved parties would cope an MCI. A description of processes and resources at the Port of Hamburg will be used when designing a management plan for responding to an MCI-ID.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"16 1","pages":"36"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8406386/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39387375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Online survey among maritime pilots: job-related stress and strain and the effects on their work ability.","authors":"Marcus Oldenburg,&nbsp;Jan Herzog,&nbsp;Filip Barbarewicz,&nbsp;Volker Harth,&nbsp;Hans-Joachim Jensen","doi":"10.1186/s12995-021-00322-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12995-021-00322-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>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 stress and strain among maritime pilots and the effects on their work ability, taking into account the different rotation systems.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Within a cross-sectional survey, pilots of all German pilots' associations were asked to complete an online questionnaire. The 1-week ROS (port pilots) was compared with the 4-month ROS (sea and canal pilots). The pilots' subjective perception of stress and strain was assessed using an established ship-specific questionnaire. Daily sleepiness and work ability were examined respectively using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and the Work Ability Index (WAI).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The study group consisted of 401 male German pilots with an average age of 48.5 years (participation rate 46.9%). More than 50% of the pilots evaluated irregular working hours as the main stressor in their job. 79.8% of the pilots (especially 4-month ROS) experienced high psychological demands in their workplace. 83.3% stated having regularly neglected their private obligations due to job assignments. Pilots from the 4-month ROS experienced insufficiently predictable free time and long operation times at a stretch as stressors (p < 0.001 and p = 0.037). Elevated daily sleepiness was found in 41.9% of the pilots. The overall evaluation of the WAI questionnaire showed good to very good work ability at 77.3%. Additionally, no significant differences in the daily sleepiness or the work ability were observed between the pilots of the different two ROS.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Due to their subjectively higher job-related mental demands, their disturbed work-life balance, and their long operation times at a stretch, it is likely that pilots from the 4-month ROS have significantly higher job stress compared to those in the 1-week ROS. However, this does not lead to more sleepiness or reduced work ability, which suggests that the pilots of this ROS are highly adapted to their working situation. Nevertheless, intervention measures with shortened ROS amongst sea and canal pilots' associations should be tested in respect of benefit, practicability and acceptance by the pilots.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"16 1","pages":"35"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8386012/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39358263","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}