Journal of Occupational Health and Epidemiology
Volume:9 Issue: 1, Winter 2020

The prevalence of hypertension (HTN) among Iranian taxi drivers has not been well defined. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of HTN and to identify factors influencing its prevalence among Iranian taxi drivers in 2018.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on a total sample of 321 taxi drivers in Kermanshah province in 2018. The participants were classified into two groups, including the HTN group (SBP ≥ 140 or DBP ≥ 90) and the non-HTN group (SBP < 140 or DBP < 90). A self-administrated questionnaire, including questions about demographic information, medical history, and work-related factors was employed to collect data.

According to the observations, 59.8% of the participants (192/321) suffered from HTN. According to the adjusted logistic regression model and the per one unit increase, there was significantly higher odds of HTN for age (odds ratio [OR] =1.04 and 95% confidence interval [CI] =1.02, 1.06) and work history (OR=1.08 and 95% CI=1.03, 1.13); in contrast, there was a lower risk of HTN for sleep duration (OR=0.83 and 95% CI=0.69, 0.99) and Work Days Per Week (WDPW) (OR=0.73 and 95% CI=0.57, 0.94). In the categorical analysis, a significantly higher risk of HTN was observed in the drivers with age ≥ 45, work history ≥ 5, Work Hours Per Day (WHPD) >10, WDPW ≤ 6, married, and poor economic status ≤ a 2-million Toman income per month.

This study introduces taxi drivers as a high-risk HTN group in the society. Hence, they should be informed of HTN risk factors and undergo regular checkups.

The examination of workers’ health behaviors and their quality of life, as well as providing support in missing areas are important in terms of both occupational health and community health. This study aims to assess workers’ quality of life and health-promoting lifestyle in a workplace in 2017 and to determine their relationship with some socio-demographic characteristics.

This descriptive study was conducted from January to March 2017 in Samsun province. A total of 151 workers participated in the study. The data were collected using a questionnaire on workers’ socio-demographic characteristics, Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP II), and Short Form-36 Quality of Life Scale (SF-36). The mean values were compared using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. The correlation was evaluated using Spearman’s correlation analysis. In addition, p-value 0<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

The workers had an average of 132.48±23.65 points on the HPL profile. In addition, HPL scores were significantly higher in the older age group (p<0.05). However, there was no difference in terms of other socio-demographic characteristics (p>0.05). Besides, there was a positive and low level significant correlation between the workers’ HPL scale scores and only four subscales of SF 36 (p<0.05).

According to the result of this study, the workers’ health-related quality of life was found to be below the Turkish community standards, with the workers’ healthy lifestyle behavior having been moderate. In addition, some sociodemographic characteristics had a negligible effect on the quality of life, and healthy lifestyle behaviors positively increased employees’ quality of life.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are among the most common occupational problems facing surgical technologists in the operating room, which could be associated with high costs and a reduction in the healthcare quality. The operating room could be the source of various types of surgical errors caused by numerous invasive procedures. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between musculoskeletal disorders and medical errors in surgical technologists.

This descriptive study was carried out on 201 operating room surgical technologists working at Sari City hospitals. The samples were selected by convenience sampling. Data collection instruments included the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire and the operating room-related medical errors questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS software and the Pearson's correlation model.

The results showed that disorders in the lumbar and back regions were the most common disorders among surgical technologists with the prevalence of 51.2%. In addition, there was a significant correlation between medical errors and WMSDs in the wrist and knee regions (P <0.05). There was also a significant relationship between gender, BMI, marital status, regular exercise, and weekly working hours with WMSDs, as well as between medical errors and gender (P <0.05).

The prevalence of WMSDs and medical errors was high among surgical technologists; therefore, given the high-risk environment of the operating room, proper measures must be adopted to reduce WMSDs and medical errors.

Emergency operators are responsible for determining the nature of callers' problems, responding to them, and dispatching an appropriate rescue team. In addition, they provide instructions on cardiopulmonary resuscitation, bleeding control, airway management, and other life-saving procedures. Emergency operators are often faced with difficult situations. This study aims to highlight novel aspects of emergency operators' professional life and to achieve a deep understanding of their experiences of difficult conditions as well as the way they manage them.

This qualitative study was carried out using a phenomenological method. Purposeful sampling was used to select 12 individuals of 1-1-5 emergency operators in Kerman in 2019. Data were collected using in-depth and semi-structured interviews.

The participants were 8 males and 4 females who had been working as a dispatcher for 3-17 years. As many as 13 subthemes were elicited and categorized into 3 themes. The main themes were uncertain conditions, caller communication problems, and organizational constraints. Coping skills and communication skills were found out to be effective in managing such problems.

According to the findings of this study, 1-1-5 emergency operators in Kerman, with the responsibility of saving patient life, try to solve problems in the best way. Governmental officials are expected to provide service trainings to increase operators' theoretical and practical knowledge and to harness their communication skills so as to provide more efficient services to patients.

Organizational commitment is of considerable importance to nurses working to maintain, restore, and promote human health. One of the factors associated with organizational commitment is the quality of services offered to nurses by hospitals. The present study aims to determine the relationship between organizational commitment and the quality of services offered to nurses by hospitals.

This descriptive-correlational study was conducted in 2017. A total of 150 nurses working at Seyed al-Shohada Heart Center in Urmia were enrolled in this study using a census. Data collection was conducted using a demographic questionnaire, Allen and Meyer's Organizational Commitment Scale, and Ashill's Scale of Service Delivery Performance. In addition, data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and the Pearson’s correlation coefficient using SPSS V.16.0, Chicago, Illinois.

The results indicated that organizational commitment was at a moderate level among 67.3% of the nurses, and the quality of services offered by the hospital to 72% of the nurses was determined as relatively high. Moreover, the overall score of organizational commitment was found out to be linearly and significantly correlated with the overall score of the quality of services offered to nurses by the hospital as well as all of its dimensions (r=0.474, p=0.05).

There appeared to be a significant positive correlation between the quality of services offered to nurses by the hospital and organizational commitment. Therefore, hospital authorities could improve the quality of services provided to nurses, thereby promoting their organizational commitment. This will in turn lead to an improvement in patient care.

Due to the central role of ethics in the overall success of professors and teachers in developing curricula and their direct relationship with students, the present study aims to investigate the factors influencing occupational ethics in faculty members at Farhangian University.

This study uses a mixed method with a sequential explanatory design. The statistical population of the research in the qualitative section included 23 academic experts and officials of Farhangian University selected by targeted sampling. The quantitative section of the study included all faculty members of Farhangian University from all around the country, with 267 of whom selected using cluster random sampling. The research tool in the qualitative section was interviews, and researcher-made questionnaire with 69 questions was used in the quantitative section. The results indicated the validity of the instrument. In addition, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient and retest results verified the reliability of the tool. Data analysis was performed through coding in the qualitative section of the research, and in the quantitative section, structural equation modelling was done using SPSS V22.0 and Lisrel V8.8.

According to the results, factors influencing occupational ethics among faculty members at Farhangian University included ethical intelligence (0.124), ethical leadership (0.197), organizational commitment (0.222), organizational culture (0.099), organization climate (0.143), work engagement (0.153), interactive justice (0.153), occupational competence (0.210), and personal development (0.265).

The results implied that all the above-mentioned identified factors were desirable among faculty members at Farhangian University, and the proposed model had a good fit.

Job satisfaction could be assessed using the single-item global approach or the multidimensional approach. This study aims to assess the work facets predicting the overall single-item job satisfaction measure among resident doctors.

This descriptive study was conducted from August to October 2018 among 195 resident doctors. The survey instrument, i.e. the Minnesota satisfaction questionnaire (MSQ), was used to assess satisfaction among resident doctors with 20 job facets. In addition, the single-item satisfaction measure was adopted to assess overall job satisfaction among the respondents. Both satisfaction measures were assessed on a 5-point Likert scale. The MSQ sum scores for the 20 items ranged from 20 to 100. The correlation between each satisfaction facet and the single-item overall job satisfaction was determined using the Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Besides, a linear regression model of the overall job satisfaction, including facets significantly correlated, was developed to control age and work experience. P-value ≤ 0.05 was regarded statistically significant.

The respondents expressed above-average satisfaction with only two work facets, namely compensation (56.7%) and creativity (52.5%). Satisfaction had the lowest rate for the facets of recognition (4.8%), supervision-human relations (5.3%), and responsibility (7.5%). Accordingly, only the facets of ability utilisation (p = 0.005), advancement (p < 0.001), supervision-human relations (p = 0.035), variety (p = 0.012), and working conditions (p = 0.001) significantly predicted overall job satisfaction.

Overall job satisfaction was mostly predicted by factors intrinsic to the job, so these could be specifically targeted for interventions.

An effective learning procedure is depended on the usefulness of the education system. In this context, education policymakers focus on recognizing factors influencing student learning outcomes. This study aims to investigate job alienation in high school teachers and its impacts on their job performance and quality of life.

This descriptive study was conducted on teachers (N = 110) employed in the high schools of Shahroud County in the academic year of 2017-2018, who were selected by the random sampling method. For the purpose of data collection, Persian versions of the Work Alienation Scale (WAS), the Quality of Life Questionnaire (QOLQ), and the Job Performance (JP) Questionnaire were utilized. Data were analyzed using SPSS V21.0 and linear regression was used to predict variables.

According to the results, the coefficient of determination (R2) was 0.191 indicating that job alienation accounted for 19.1% of the variance in job performance. Based on the results, job alienation (P <0.01, β = -0.437) led to significant negative job performance. In addition, the coefficient of determination (R2) was 0.115 indicating that job alienation accounted for 11.5% of the variance in the quality of life. Based on the results, job alienation (β = -0.339, P <0.01) significantly predicted the quality of life.

It is concluded that the working conditions of teachers should be improved constantly, taking into account the findings of this research and the factors identified as effective in causing work alienation.