Journal of Occupational Health and Epidemiology
Volume:6 Issue: 4, Autumn 2017

Nowadays, shift work is a common work schedule. Shift work has been hypothesized as a risk factor for obesity. So, identifying the effective factors on obesity is of great importance. In the present research, we are going to study the effects of shift work on obesity among military personnel in 2016.
This descriptive study was carried out on 80 man military at southern Iran in June and July 2016. Respondents were divided into two groups based on their working schedule (40 shift work and 40 day work personnel). These two groups were matched in terms of type work. In this study, the participants were selected through simple random sampling. In this research, we controlled the effect of age and work experience on obesity. Finally, data analysis was performed with SPSS software.
Total people who participated in this study were 80. The findings revealed that mean body weight and body mass index (BMI) in shift workers were more than day workers. The results also showed that 79.6% of subjects had BMI > 25 in shift work individuals. Furthermore, 83.9% of subjects had BMI The duration of shift work was positively associated with the prevalence of obesity in military personnel and shall be taken to intervention actions in shift works.

Firefighting and rescue require high physical and psychological needs under unpredictable and dangerous conditions. Thus, this study aimed to investigate mental workload and affecting factors in firefighters.
This is a descriptive study which was conducted on 250 firefighters of Tehran, Iran. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) survey was used in order to evaluate the mental load among firefighters. This tool evaluates mental workload in 6 areas of mental need, physical need, time pressure, endeavor level, performance (efficiency) and disappointment level. Each area is investigated with a scale from zero to 100. Finally, data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation test and linear regression.
The mean and standard deviation (SD) of age in firefighters was 32.20 ± 4.54 years. The physical load dimension (93.48 ± 8.93) had highest value and disappointment and failure feeling (25.85 ± 23.38) had the lowest value in terms of mental workload. Association with educational level and the physical load was direct and significant (P = 0.035). None of the demographic variables including age, working history, educational level, marital status, as well as being smoker had an impact on total mental workload (P > 0.050).
Overall mental workload was high in firefighters which can influence working efficiency and increase errors in this occupational group. Hence, implementing effective programs for adjusting mental workload such as ergonomic and psychological interventions are recommended for reducing mental and psychological errors and stress.

Volatile organic compounds (VOC) are considered as major environmental contaminants that have a harmful effect on human and ecosystem health, so much effort has been focused on their removal. The aim of this study was to investigate the removal efficiency of styrene by Zeolite Socony Mobil-5 (ZSM-5) after immobilization of nanoparticles of zinc oxide (ZnO) on it.
In this experimental study and in order to produce styrene, clean dry air with a constant flow rate of 1 l/minute was pumped into an impinger containing styrene solution which resulted in the evaporation of styrene. Produced vapors entered into the mixing chamber to be mixed with clean air. Produced styrene with certain concentrations of 20, 100 and 300 ppm was sent to a reactor containing ZSM-5/ZnO bed to investigate the effectiveness of the bed in the elimination of styrene.
This study focused on removal of styrene using ZnO nanoparticles stabilized on ZSM-5 Zeolite. The highest removal efficiency of styrene was 47.5% in concentrations of 20 ppm. For concentrations of 100 and 300 ppm, the efficiency was 22% and 12.5%, respectively.
Both adsorption and catalytic mechanisms can be effective in removal of pollutants in different conditions. Findings related to adsorption and removal of styrene also showed that coating ZnO nanoparticles on zeolite absorbent in presence of ultraviolet (UV) has increased the removal efficiency.

Staffs may suffer from high job stress and low quality of the marital relationship. Constructive skills can have a positive impact on them. Thus, the aim of the current research was to investigate the effectiveness of relationship enhancement (RE) approach training on job stress and quality of marital relationship among staffs of the Municipality of Karaj, Iran.
The research method was semi-experimental and the pretest- posttest design with the control group was used. Population in this study consisted of Municipal staffs of Karaj in 2015. Samples were selected at first by available sampling method. After completing job stress and marital status questionnaires, samples were assigned using the random split method in two experimental and control groups (15 ones per group). The experimental group participated in 7 sessions of group training based on RE approach and control group received no intervention. The gathered data were analyzed by SPSS software.
There was a significant difference between the posttest scores of the experimental and control groups. Moreover, RE approach training could significantly reduce job stress (P = 0.01, F = 6.19) and increase quality of marital relationship (P According to the effectiveness of RE approach in reducing job stress and increasing quality of marital relationship, it is recommended that this program is used in private and public centers to increase the health of the staff.

Shift work can cause problems for workers’ health, especially nurses. This study was done to assess the problems caused by shift work and the nature of the job in nurses of the educational hospitals of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
This was a descriptive study carried out in 2013. The research participants were 159 nurses with and without shift work and 167 employees from one of the hospitals affiliated to Kerman University of Medical Sciences. Data were gathered via the survey of shift workers (SOS) questionnaire and were analyzed by SPSS software.
There were 41.1% (n = 134) shift working nurses, 7.7% (n = 25) fixed daytime nurses and 51.2% (n = 167) fixed daytime employees. Their average age was 35.7 ± 6.4, 34.0 ± 6.9 and 40.0 ± 6.8, respectively. This study showed that headache and dizziness (P = 0.001), lack of concentration (P = 0.011), boredom (P = 0.001), depression (P = 0.001), irritability (P = 0.001) and fatigue during the day (P = 0.026) were significantly higher among shift workers. Shift work significantly affected the personal (P = 0.029), family (P = 0.039) and social life (P = 0.001) of the shift working nurses, and also caused more musculoskeletal and psychosocial disorders.
Shift work may cause musculoskeletal and psychological problems and have a negative impact on nurses’ personal, family and social life. Allowing nurses to choose shift work based on their own will, and the regular rotation of shifts can decrease the problems arising from shift work.

Occupational noise-induced hearing loss (ONIHL) is a hearing disorder that affects workers all over the world. Preconditioning with several mild or less potent stressors will effectively prevent the development of noise-induced hearing loss. This study investigated the possible preventive effects of normobaric hyperoxia preconditioning on preventing the noise-induced hearing impairment in the rats.
Four groups of male Wistar rats served as controls, exposed to normobaric oxygen, noise, or oxygen plus noise. The noise exposure lasted for 6 hours/day, 5 days/week, 4 weeks and the preconditioning conducted by inhalation of pure oxygen (95%) for 3 hours/day, 6 days/week, 1 week in a chamber prior to noise exposure. A bandpass noise of 100dB SPL centered at 8 KHz was used for noise exposure. Click and tone burst auditory brainstem responses (ABR) and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) audiograms were recorded in order to evaluate the level of hearing loss among the subjects before the beginning and 4 weeks post-exposure. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS.
The weekly pre-conditioning by normobaric hyperoxia significantly reduced the ABR threshold shifts and restored the amplitudes of DPOAE (P 0.050).
The preconditioning successfully protected the rats’ hearing by maximizing and developing tolerance to ischemia and hypoxia caused by the noise. The application of such preconditioning is then considered as a possible complementary preventive solution.

Nurses’ working environments, especially operating rooms are stressful environments due to their undesirable factors and conditions. The present study was conducted to determine sources of occupational stress among operating room nurses of hospitals affiliated to universities of medical sciences in Kerman, Iran.
This cross-sectional study was carried out in the operating rooms of hospitals affiliated to universities of medical sciences, in Kerman. The sample population consisted of 250 operating room nurses with at least 1 year of work experience. The subjects were selected using randomized cluster sampling. Data were collected using a socio-demographic data form and the Expanded Nursing Stress Scale (ENSS). The collected data were analyzed using independent t-test, Pearson correlation, and ANOVA in SPSS software.
Operating room nurses rated situations of the “death and dying” subscale as the most stressful, whereas situations of “discrimination” were described as less stressful. Uncertainty concerning treatment was significantly affected by gender; women had higher scores in this subscale (P = 0.019). Moreover, general operating room nurses (vs. specialized) had significantly higher mean scores regarding the perception of the stressfulness of “inadequate preparation”, “conflict with physicians”, and “discrimination” subscales (P The situations of the death and dying subscale were the most important stressors from the viewpoint of operating room nurses. Due to nurses’ constant observation of patients’ pain and suffering, preparing them for coping with such stressors is necessary through education and organizational/familial supports

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between perfectionism and mental health according to the mediating role of organization self-esteem (OSE) in the official staff of the Iranian Oil Pipeline of the central region and Telecommunication Company of the southeast region, Rafsanjan, Iran.
This descriptive research is a path way analysis. The statistical population included all employees at the Iranian Oil Pipeline and Telecommunication Company. Based on the Guernsey and Morgan tables, 95 subjects were selected as the samples through random method. In order to collect data, we employed three sets of questionnaires (perfectionism, mental health, and OSE) that have a proper validity and reliability. The data were analyzed using SPSS and PLS.
The significant coefficient of the route between OSE and mental health was 0.264 that was estimated less than 1.96. Thus, it can be reported that ther was not a significant association between OSE and mental health which means OSE did not affect mental health. Therefore, it can be said that perfectionism did not affect mental health with OSE as the mediator variable.
According to the importance of using the skill of perfectionism, it can be used in increasing mental health in the organization.