Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology最新文献

{"title":"Rudolph, the kids’ ward reindeer: a scoping review of the effects of support animals on the well-being of healthcare staff","authors":"Thomas C. Erren, Jonas Wallraff, Ursula Wild, David M. Shaw, Philip Lewis","doi":"10.1186/s12995-023-00395-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12995-023-00395-1","url":null,"abstract":"Many systematic reviews identify support animals or animal assisted activity as a beneficial and standard practice in several medical disciplines for patients (children, adolescents, and adults) and residents in care homes. A variety of animals are used such as dogs, cats, ponies, horses, alpacas, reindeer, penguins, rabbits, and tarantulas. Our objective was to explore the evidence regarding effects of animal assisted activity on a further population of interest; namely, healthcare staff. We asked the question “how do support animals in healthcare settings affect the well-being of healthcare staff?” As an addendum, we were also interested in what - possibly more unique - animals have visited healthcare settings at Christmas time in particular. We conducted a scoping literature review using PubMed and Web of Science (search as of 26 April 2023). Twenty studies (in the USA, Australia, Europe; dogs: n = 19; cats: n = 1) since 2002 included: studies with biological measures (n = 3), longitudinal survey studies with analyses (n = 5), cross-sectional survey studies with analyses (n = 2), and cross-sectional survey studies with descriptive statistics (n = 10). Overall, animal assisted activities appear to be well-received by staff and there do not seem to be negative impacts on staff well-being. Relevant positive effects and avenues of research are identified. Our review suggests that, but not exactly how, animal assisted activity benefits staff. Study evidence is limited with most studies being cross-sectional, descriptive, having low participant numbers, and mostly only involving dogs. Nonetheless, the evidence is mostly positive. The potential of animal assisted activities impacting positively on staff well-being warrants systematic research. Gaps in hard-fact-evidence should not deter us – especially at the festive season – to encourage work with, and systematic research regarding, support animals that provide warmth, empathy, comfort, and more in healthcare settings.","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138577134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Radiation exposure doses to the surgical team during hip surgery is significantly higher during lateral imaging than posteroanterior imaging: a cadaveric simulation study.","authors":"Yasuaki Tamaki, Kazuta Yamashita, Daiki Nakajima, Yasuyuki Omichi, Yoshinori Takahashi, Michihiro Takai, Shunsuke Tamaki, Tomohiro Goto, Hiroaki Hayashi, Kosaku Higashino, Yoshihiro Tsuruo, Koichi Sairyo","doi":"10.1186/s12995-023-00396-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12995-023-00396-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Fluoroscopy is indispensable when determining appropriate and effective interventions in orthopedic surgery. On the other hand, there is growing concern about the health hazards of occupational radiation exposure. The aim of this cadaveric simulation study was to measure radiation exposure doses to the surgical team during hip surgery.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We reproduced the intraoperative setting of hip surgery using 7 fresh frozen cadavers (5 male, 2 female) to simulate patients and mannequins to simulate the surgeon, scrub nurse, and anesthesiologist. Six real-time dosimeters were mounted at sites corresponding to the optic lens, thyroid gland, chest, gonads, foot, and hand on each mannequin. The radiation exposure dose to each team member was measured during posteroanterior and lateral fluoroscopic imaging.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Radiation exposure doses to the surgeon were significantly higher during 3 min of lateral imaging than during 3 min of posteroanterior imaging at the optic lens (8.1 times higher), thyroid gland (10.3 times), chest (10.8 times), and hand (19.8 times) (p = 0.018, p = 0.018, p = 0.018, and p = 0.018, respectively). During lateral imaging, the radiation doses to the nurse were 0.16, 0.12, 0.09, 0.72, and 0.38 times those to the surgeon at the optic lens, thyroid, chest, gonads, and foot, respectively. The radiation dose to the anesthesiologist was zero at all anatomic sites during posteroanterior imaging and very small during lateral imaging.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Radiation exposure dose was significantly higher during lateral imaging up to 19.8 times comparing to the posteroanterior imaging. It is effective to reduce the lateral imaging time for reducing the intraoperative radiation exposure. In addition, appropriate distance from fluoroscopy resulted in very low exposure for nurses and anesthesiologists. Surgeon should pay attention that surgical staff do not get closer than necessary to the irradiation field.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"18 1","pages":"27"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10688452/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138463843","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":"Six-month cost-effectiveness of adding motivational interviewing or a stratified vocational advice intervention to usual case management for workers with musculoskeletal disorders: the MI-NAV economic evaluation.","authors":"Alexander Tingulstad, Esther T Maas, Tarjei Rysstad, Britt Elin Øiestad, Fiona Aanesen, Are Hugo Pripp, Maurits W Van Tulder, Margreth Grotle","doi":"10.1186/s12995-023-00394-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12995-023-00394-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This study evaluates the six-month cost-effectiveness and cost-benefits of motivational interviewing (MI) or a stratified vocational advice intervention (SVAI) added to usual case management (UC) for workers on sick leave due to musculoskeletal disorders.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study was conducted alongside a three-arm RCT including 514 employed workers on sick leave for at least 50% for ≥ 7 weeks. All participants received UC. The UC + MI group received two MI sessions, and the UC + SVAI group received 1-4 SVAI sessions. Sickness absence days, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), and societal costs were measured between baseline and six months.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Adding MI to UC, resulted in incremental cost-reduction of -2580EUR (95%CI -5687;612), and a reduction in QALYs of -0.001 (95%CI -0.02;0.01). Secondly, adding MI to UC resulted in an incremental cost-reduction of -538EUR (95%CI -1358;352), and reduction of 5.08 (95%CI -3.3;13.5) sickness-absence days. Financial return estimates were positive, but not statistically significant. Adding SVAI to UC, resulted in an incremental cost-reduction of -2899 EUR (95% CI -5840;18), and a reduction in QALYs of 0.002 (95% CI -0.02;0.01). Secondly, adding SVAI to UC resulted in an statistically significant incremental cost-reduction of -695 EUR (95% CI -1459;-3), and a reduction of 7.9 (95% CI -0.04;15.9) sickness absence days. Financial return estimates were positive and statistically significant. The probabilities of cost-effectiveness for QALYs were high for adding MI or SVAI (ceiling ratio 0.90).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In comparison to UC only, adding MI to UC tends to be cost-effective. Adding SVAI to UC is cost-effective for workers on sick leave due to musculoskeletal disorders.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT03871712).</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"18 1","pages":"25"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10644648/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"107592577","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":"Risky working conditions and chronic kidney disease.","authors":"Rui Lan, Yao Qin, Xiangjun Chen, Jinbo Hu, Wenjin Luo, Yan Shen, Xue Li, Lina Mao, Hanwen Ye, Zhihong Wang","doi":"10.1186/s12995-023-00393-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12995-023-00393-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Individuals in the workplace are exposed to various environments, tasks, and schedules. Previous studies have indicated a link between occupational exposures and an increased risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the social conditions of the work environment may also be a crucial contributing factor to CKD. Furthermore, individuals may encounter multiple occupational-related risk factors simultaneously, underscoring the importance of investigating the joint risk of different working conditions on CKD.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A prospective analysis of 65,069 UK Biobank participants aged 40 to 69 years without CKD at baseline (2006-2010) was performed. A self-administered questionnaire assessed working conditions and a working conditions risk score were developed. Participants who answered \"sometimes\" or \"often\" exposure to occupational heat or occupational secondhand cigarette smoke; involved in shift work or heavy workloads (\"usually\" or \"always\"), were grouped as high-risk working conditions. Each working condition was scored as 1 if grouped as high-risk, and 0 if not. The working conditions risk score was equal to the sum of these four working conditions. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to estimate the associations between working conditions and CKD incidence.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The mean follow-up time was 6.7 years. After adjusting for demographic, lifestyle, and working time factors, the hazard ratios for the development of CKD for heavy workloads, shift work, occupational secondhand cigarette smoke exposure, and occupational heat exposure were 1.24 (95%CI = 1.03, 1.51), 1.33 (95%CI = 1.10, 1.62), 1.13 (95%CI = 1.01, 1.26), 1.11 (95%CI = 0.99, 1.24), respectively. The risk of CKD was found to be significantly associated with an increasing working conditions risk score. Individuals with a working conditions risk score of 4 had an 88.0% (95% CI = 1.05, 3.35) higher risk of developing CKD when compared to those with a working conditions risk score of 0.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Adverse working conditions, particularly when considered in combination, can significantly elevate the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD). These results provide a reference for implementing measures to prevent CKD.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"18 1","pages":"26"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10644450/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"107592576","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":"Quantitative assessment of asbestos fibers in some normal and pathological extra-abdominal tissues-a scoping review.","authors":"Francesca Graziosi, Paola Caffaro, Mattia Bonetti, Francesco Roccuzzo, Samantha Rota, Paolo Boffetta, Yohama Auxiliadora Caraballo-Arias, Carlotta Zunarelli, Nataliia Danilevskaia, Francesco Saverio Violante","doi":"10.1186/s12995-023-00392-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12995-023-00392-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Asbestos is a mineral present in nature and it has been used for years in numerous settings. Asbestos enters the bloodstream and lymphatic system mainly through breathing.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Studies with asbestos fiber's quantification in human tissues are scarce except for the lung. This article summarizes asbestos studies in some extra-abdominal tissues.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A scoping review of articles that quantified asbestos fibers in extra-abdominal tissues (lymph nodes, pharynx, larynx, trachea, heart) by electron microscopy (Scanning-SEM or Transmission-TEM) was performed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The 10 studies selected comprised 52 cases, out of whom 108 samples were analyzed. Mostly samples were lymph node tissues (102), followed by larynx (3) and myocardium (3). No studies were found that determined the presence of asbestos in the pharynx or trachea. The concentration of asbestos fibers detected in the lymph nodes was from 0.003 million fibers per gram of dry tissue (mfgdt) up to 7400 mfgdt, in the larynx the range was from 0.5 mfgdt up to 3.6 mfgdt, in myocardium no asbestos fibers were detected.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The studies included were heterogeneous in terms of case and sample characteristics and analytical techniques. As subjects exposed to asbestos are often positive for fibers in thoracic lymph nodes, we suggest that whenever a human tissue sample is analyzed for asbestos presence, the relevant draining lymph node should be concomitantly studied.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"18 1","pages":"24"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2023-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10634162/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72015805","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":"Influence of chlorpyrifos exposure on UVB irradiation induced toxicity in human skin cells.","authors":"Krzysztof Sawicki, Magdalena Matysiak-Kucharek, Marcin Kruszewski, Paulina Wojtyła-Buciora, Lucyna Kapka-Skrzypczak","doi":"10.1186/s12995-023-00391-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12995-023-00391-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Although chlorpyrifos (CPS) has been banned in many developed countries, it still remains one of the best-selling pesticides in the world. Widespread environmental and occupational exposure to CPS pose a serious risk to human health. Another environmental factor that can adversely affect human health is ultraviolet radiation B (UVB, 280-315 nm wave length). Here we attempt determine if exposure to CPS can modify toxic effects of UVB. Such situation might be a common phenomenon in agriculture workers, where exposure to both factors takes place.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Two skin cell lines; namely human immortalized keratinocytes HaCaT and BJ human fibroblasts were used in this study. Cytotoxicity was investigated using a cell membrane damage detection assay (LDH Cytotoxicity Assay), a DNA damage detection assay (Comet Assay), an apoptosis induction detection assay (Apo-ONE Homogeneous Caspase-3/7 Assay) and a cell reactive oxygen species detection assay (ROS-Glo H₂O₂ assay). Cytokine IL-6 production was also measured in cells using an ELISA IL-6 Assay.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Pre-incubation of skin cells with CPS significantly increased UVB-induced toxicity at the highest UVB doses (15 and 20 mJ/cm²). Also pre-exposure of BJ cells to CPS significantly increased the level of DNA damage, except for 20 mJ/cm² UVB. In contrast, pre-exposure of HaCaT cells, to CPS prior to UVB radiation did not cause any significant changes. A decrease in caspase 3/7 activity was observed in HaCaT cells pre-exposed to 250 µM CPS and 5 mJ/cm² UVB. Meanwhile, no statistically significant changes were observed in fibroblasts. In HaCaT cells, pre-exposure to CPS resulted in a statistically significant increase in ROS production. Also, in BJ cells, similar results were obtained except for 20 mJ/cm². Interestingly, CPS seems to inhibited IL-6 production in HaCaT and BJ cells exposed to UVB (in the case of HaCaT cells for all UVB doses, while for BJ cells only at 15 and 20 mJ/cm²).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In conclusion, the present study indicates that CPS may contribute to the increased UVB-induced toxicity in skin cells, which was likely due to the induction of ROS formation along with the generation of DNA damage. However, further studies are required to gain better understanding of the mechanisms involved.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"18 1","pages":"23"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10559529/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41167721","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 stress of nursing: exploring communicatively restricted organizational stress (CROS), effort-reward imbalance, and organizational support among a sample of U.S. working nurses.","authors":"Justin P Boren, Alice E Veksler","doi":"10.1186/s12995-023-00390-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12995-023-00390-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Nurses experience a constellation of negative outcomes such as lost productivity, based on their high levels of organizational stress. Following recommendations for best practices in health communication can dramatically improve the organizational climate for nurses and can have a significant effect on patient outcomes. In this study, we evaluate the impact of Communicative Restricted Organizational Stress (CROS) and effort-reward imbalance (ERI).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A mixed-methods approach was employed. A professional survey research vendor was contracted to obtain an appropriate national sample (N = 299) of working nurses in the United States of America. Participants completed an online closed-ended questionnaire for the quantitative portion of the study. Qualitative data were gathered from member-checking follow-up interviews.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Results of the quantitative analysis indicated that nurses experience CROS, that these experiences are distressing, that CROS functions as an effort in the effort-reward-imbalance model, and that CROS and ERI contribute to negative outcomes such as insomnia, productivity lost, and poor general health. Specifically, a moderated moderation model accounted for 53% of the variance [F (7,290) = 47.363, p < .001] indicating that nurses with high levels of CROS distress and low levels of organizational support experienced the highest level of ERI in the presence of high nursing stress, t (296) = 3.05, p = .03, 95% CI [0.0038, 0.0178]. These findings were validated through member-checking qualitative interviews and specific overarching themes were explicated.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>CROS is an important variable in understanding the experience of nursing stress. Furthermore, CROS serves as an effort in the ERI Model and serves to exacerbate nursing stress. We recommend practical implications for the improvement of psychosocial stress in an occupational environment for nurses.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"18 1","pages":"22"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10546775/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41136536","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":"Disparities in occupational health services: an international comparative study.","authors":"Ayala Olga Krakov, Oren Zack, Oren Y Sagiv, Dan Slodownik, Rachel Raanan, Deborah Alperovitch-Najenson, Lilah Rinsky-Halivni, Shlomo Moshe","doi":"10.1186/s12995-023-00386-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12995-023-00386-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Occupational Health Services (OHS) are comprehensive, multidisciplinary services supplied by various trained workers, including occupational physicians (OP), whose specialty is focused on workers' health.</p><p><strong>Aims: </strong>Our study questions are whether the OP/worker ratio may reflect the scope and availability of OHS.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This comparative study, conducted on globally different OHS, was based on literature analysis of peer-reviewed articles published in journals covering topics of occupational medicine and public health that addressed parameters on the type and scope of OHS provision.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We described the number of OP/worker ratio, and the correlation to economic parameters (Gross domestic product-GDP, health expenditure, Gini Index-GI) by country. We found that among countries with a GDP per capita higher than US$30,000, only three (US, South Korea and Israel) had a very low OP/worker ratio (about 1:50,000 compared to 1:5,000 in other countries). Looking at all the countries together, there was a statistically significant negative correlation between health expenditure percentage of GDP per capita and OP/worker ratio (rs = -0.54, p = 0.01) and a significant positive correlation between GI and OP/worker ratio (rs = 0.47, p = 0.04).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The lesser the percentage of health expenditure of GDP and the subsequent greater general inequality as reflected by the GI, the lower the OP/worker ratio. The data collected in our comparative study show that the OP/worker ratio is a parameter both easy to define and obtain which best represents the status and disparity of OHS in each country.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"18 1","pages":"21"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10503138/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10260134","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":"Perceived stress of mental demands at work, objective stress and resilience - an analysis of the LIFE-Adult-study.","authors":"Franziska U Jung, Alexander Pabst, Francisca S Rodriguez, Melanie Luppa, Christoph Engel, Toralf Kirsten, Veronica Witte, Nigar Reyes, Markus Loeffler, Arno Villringer, Steffi G Riedel-Heller","doi":"10.1186/s12995-023-00388-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12995-023-00388-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>So far, previous research suggests positive effects of mental demands at the workplace. However, it may depend on how stressfull these demands are perceived on an individual level.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The aim was to build on previous research by investigating how mental demands are related to stress, overload, and work discontent and whether this relationship is mediated by individuals resources, such as resilience.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A sub-sample of the LIFE Adult Cohort (n = 480) was asked to answer questions on sociodemographic characteristics, objective stress (using the Trier Inventory of Chronic Stress (TICS)), and perceptions of stress with regard to verbal and executive mental demands at work.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>According to generalized linear regression models, higher verbal as well as executive mental demands were associated with higher levels of chronic stress, work overload and discontent. Higher levels of resilience were associated with lower levels of these outcomes. Analyses regarding interaction effects revealed that the interaction between resilience and perceived stress of verbal mental demands was significant only in terms of work overload.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Higher perceived stressfulness of mental demands was associated with higher chronic stress, work overload and work discontent. Therefore, mental demands should be targeted by occupational interventions that aim to improve job conditions and employees' overall well-being. Besides resilience, other potential influencers or personal resources should be focused on in future studies to develop interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"18 1","pages":"20"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10485996/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10252467","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":"Nerve excitability test and lead toxicity: a case-control study.","authors":"Chung-Yao Chien, Jung-Der Wang, Chou-Ching Lin","doi":"10.1186/s12995-023-00385-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12995-023-00385-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Although conventional electrophysiological parameters have been proposed as clinical indicators for monitoring lead neuropathies, their correlations with blood lead level are weak. In this study, we investigated the applicability of nerve excitability tests (NETs) to evaluate lead intoxication.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Fourteen workers who were exposed to lead with an elevated blood level ranging from 17.8 to 64.9 µg/dL and 20 healthy controls with similar ages and body heights were enrolled. Both workers and controls underwent nerve conduction studies (NCSs), motor evoked potentials (MEPs) with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and NETs.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>NCSs showed prolonged distal latencies and decreased motor nerve conduction velocity of median nerves in the workers but without significant correlation to blood lead level (BLL). Significantly prolonged MEP latency was observed in the workers (+ 6 ms). NETs demonstrated hyperpolarized resting membrane potentials in stimulus-response curves and changes in the property of potassium channels under a hyperpolarized current in threshold electrotonus, implying that lead hyperpolarized nerves by interfering with potassium channels. NETs also showed a better correlation with BLL than conventional electrophysiological parameters.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Axonal hyperpolarization and central conduction delay are more apparently reflecting elevated BLL than NCS. NET may have the potential for early detection of lead neuropathy.</p>","PeriodicalId":48903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology","volume":"18 1","pages":"19"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10472560/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10135691","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}