Journal of Occupational Health and Epidemiology
Volume:11 Issue: 2, Spring 2022

Vaccination against COVID-19 is as a key solution to interrupt its spread. This study aimed to describe the vaccination coverage required to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka using a mathematical modeling strategy.

This longitudinal study used age-stratified and unstratified Susceptible-Infectious-Recovered (SIR) models. Data on the population's age distribution were acquired from the census report of the Census and Statistics Center of Sri Lanka, consisting of groups: below 30, between 30-59, and over 60. Models with differential equations forecasted the spread of COVID-19 with vaccination based on parameter estimates and numerical simulation, assuming fixed population, infection, and recovery rates.

Simulations investigated how the susceptible, infected, and recovered populations varied according to the different vaccination coverages. According to the results, 75% vaccination coverage was required in the entire population of Sri Lanka to interrupt the transmission of COVID-19 completely. The age-stratified SIR model showed that over 90% of vaccination coverage in each age group (below 30, between 30-59, and over 60) was required to interrupt the transmission of COVID-19 in the country altogether.

The number of COVID-19 infections in each age group of Sri Lanka reduces with the increase in vaccination coverage. As 75% vaccination coverage is required in Sri Lanka to interrupt the transmission of the disease, precise vaccination coverage measurement is essential to assess the successfulness of a vaccine campaign and control COVID-19.

Information about COVID-19 patients must be studied meticulously to control the COVID-19 pandemic more effectively. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical and epidemiological features of COVID-19 patients in Rafsanjan County.

In this descriptive study, data of 3,212 patients referred to the Ali-Ibn Abitaleb Hospital in Rafsanjan County, Iran were recorded. Collected data included demographic information (age, sex, etc.), information about the method of referral to the hospital, contact history, previous history of infections, clinical symptoms associated with the disease, and data on comorbidities. Data were analyzed using a chi-square test and logistic regression coefficients.

The three common clinical symptoms were fevers (46%), muscular pain (44.6%), and coughs (34%). The most common comorbidity was hypertension (7.9%), and the case fatality rate was 10.8%. Besides, the death ratio in confirmed patients was significantly higher than that in suspected cases (P < 0.001). The chance of death in men was 16% higher than Women's (OR = 1.166). The chance of death in people with cancer and in people with reduced levels of consciousness was 9.1 and 5.5 times, respectively, higher than that in patients without comorbidity (P < 0.001).

Most of the features of our patients resembled those reported in previous research. The results of this study can contribute to healthcare policymaking for this disorder.

The association between the occurrence of road accidents and WMSD is a topic that has attracted much attention in the transportation industry. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in professional truck drivers and their impact on the occurrence of road accidents.

In this descriptive study, 200 professional truck drivers were selected by a two-stage cluster sampling method from occupational medicine centers in Tehran province, Iran in 2017. The data were collected from the two groups of with and without accident. The three-part questionnaire on ergonomics and safety of drivers was used, which included items asking about demographic characteristics, stress, job satisfaction, details of accidents, and the severity of musculoskeletal disorders in nine areas of the body. The central indices and non-parametric statistical tests (Kruskal-Wallis, Spearman) were applied to analyze the data using spss Ver 24.

The highest frequency of pain was observed in drivers without and with accidents in the back, knees, and shoulders, respectively; however, the most severe pain was reported for the low back and neck. Drivers between 45 and 60 years old reported the highest number of accidents. The association correlation between the number of road accidents and stress score among drivers with accident experience was negatively significant (P > 0.05). However, the association between musculoskeletal disorders and accidents was not statistically significant.

Factors other than musculoskeletal disorders were involved in road accidents that require more investigations.

Nurses' direct exposure to COVID-19 patients and resulting health anxiety can threaten their performance of human and moral duties.

This work was a descriptive correlational study. The statistical population was all nurses working in the intensive care unit of COVID-19 patients in Ardabil hospitals in the 2021 year, from which 150 people were selected by convenient sampling. Data were collected using the Health Anxiety Inventory, Scale for Existential Thinking, and the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy.

The Pearson correlation coefficient showed that the association between empathy and health anxiety was negative and significant (r = -0.47, P <0.001), and that between empathy and existential thinking was positive and significant (r = 0.31, P <0.001). Also, the correlation coefficients between health anxiety and existential thinking showed a negative and significant association between the two variables (r = -0.28, P <0.001). In addition, the moderated hierarchical regression analysis showed that the interactive effect of health anxiety and existential thinking on nurses' empathy with patients with COVID-19 was 29%.

According to the finding of this study, strengthening the spiritual attitude and existential thinking among the nurses of the COVID-19 ward was necessary to reduce health anxiety and its negative effects on the empathetic comunication with patients.

Nursing is a profession through which a set of sometimes difficult tasks is assigned to nurses who face several physical and mental stressors in the workplace. Therefore, this study investigates the nurses' quality of life level in Khorramabad (Iran) during the first 3 months of the COVID-19 epidemic.

This descriptive study was carried out on 361 nurses of Khorramabad teaching hospitals in the first 3 months of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020. Participants were selected by stratified random sampling of the nursing population. Data were collected using the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire. The independent t-test and ANOVA were used to analyze the data. SPSS version 22 was used for data analysis, and P-value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

There was a significant association between marital status, having children, spouse employment status, hospital ward, and quality of life of nurses over the time of the COVID-19 outbreak (P <0.05). No significant association was observed between age, gender, education level, work experience, having a second job, and level of quality of life in nurses over the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Most nurses had a good quality of life; however, the quality of life varied depending on marital status, number of children, spouse employment status, and place of employment in nurses.

Nursing occupation can be stressful, with various practical factors, and nurse creativity plays a significant role in clinical nursing success. This study aims to determine nurses' association of socio-demographic characteristics and creativity with occupational stress.

This descriptive study was conducted on 200 nurses working in teaching hospitals in Ilam, Iran in 2019. Sampling was performed by the simple random method. Data collection tools included socio-demographic, job stress, and Abedi creativity questionnaire (CT). Data analysis was performed using SPSS software v.21. One-way ANOVA and independent t-test were used to compare the mean occupational stress scores among different sociodemographic groups. The Pearson correlation test investigated the associations between occupational stress and creativity, and a general linear model was used to determine a correlation between occupational stress and soci-demographic characteristics.

About 73% of nurses had low and 25% had no occupational stress (score: >3.5), There was correlation between occupational stress and creativity (p>0.001, r= 0.25) and sub-domains: fluidity (p> 0.001, r= 0.26), innovation (p= 0.003, r= 0.20), and flexibility (r = 0.25, p <0.001). There was significant correlation between occupational stress and socio-demographic characteristics, including education status, work experience, number of night shifts per month, and satisfaction with hospital employment.

we concluded that health managers should help with spoting creativity to solve health system problems by providing a stress-free environment.

Long-term computer use as an ergonomics risk factor can generate musculoskeletal disorders, especially in the neck. This study aimed to investigate the effect of a self-management exercises intervention on both neck pain, and head and neck angles among university employees in 2021.

This experimental study was performed on 85 university staff (experimental group (N=42) and control group (N=43)) who were randomly selected based on inclusion criteria from the list of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences (Iran) employees. The experimental group did the exercises for 12 weeks with five 15-minute sessions per week. The severity of neck pain was determined using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Head and neck angles were measured at baseline and after 12 weeks using photogrammetry and Kinovea software in two postures (reading and typing).

About 60% of the participants in the experimental group reported moderate and severe neck pain, decreasing to 26.2% after the intervention. The score of neck pain intensity in the experimental group decreased in the range of 1.15-1.75. The head and gaze tilt angles and head forward position after the intervention in the experimental group showed a significant decrease. Also, the head tilt angle was significantly increased after the intervention.

The results showed that exercises could be beneficial in improving the posture of the head and neck, which caused reducing the severity of neck pain among computer users.

Noise is an important occupational safety and health issue in many workplaces. Noise annoyance is a strong measurable mental response. It is a reaction that a person expresses to the noise exposure. Thus, this study investigates the correlation between noise exposure and its annoyance in terms of mental health components.

This was a correlational descriptive study conducted on 100 workers. Respondents were recruited by a simple random sampling method. The equivalent sound level (LeqA) was determined using dosimetry. The numerical scale of ISO/TS 15666:2003 was used to measure noise annoyance. Mental health components were determined using the SCL-90 mental health questionnaire. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software (version 22) using Mann-Whitney, Kruskal–Wallis, and correlation tests.

The median of mental health and noise annoyance were 38 and 6.5, respectively. A positive correlation was observed between equivalent sound level (LeqA) and noise annoyance score (P<0.001, r=0.92). A significant correlation was found between mental health components (depression, anxiety, self-morbidity, obsession and compulsion, aggression, morbid fear, paranoid thoughts, psychosis, and sensitivity in interpersonal relationships) and equivalent sound level (P<0.001). Also, a significant correlation was observed between noise annoyance score and mental health components (P<0.001).

We concluded thatin order to enhance the mental health of employees and increment efficiency and performance, it is recommended that appropriate control methods should be applied.

There is evidence that exposure to heat stress over time may lead to chronic kidney disease. This study aimed to summarize the evidence on the effects of heat stress on renal function among individuals exposed to occupational heat stress.

In this systematic review, all papers on the effect of heat stress on kidney function among workers at any workplace and heat level were included. Reviews, case reports, conference proceedings, letters, editorials, abstracts without full text, in-vitro, and animal studies were excluded. Furthermore, studies conducted on children, general populations, and hospitalized patients, as well as those not measuring heat stress, were also excluded. Medline, Scopus, ISI, and Embase databases were searched from 1st January 1991 to 19th October 2021. Search criteria were prepared by combining an 'exposed population' AND 'exposure' AND 'outcome' keywords. Quality assessment was done using the National Institutes of Health Quality Assessment tool.

A total of 24 articles with 14,282 participants were considered for qualitative synthesis. Although most papers indicated a positive association between heat stress and kidney dysfunction, especially regarding dehydration, the present study found heterogeneous evidence. Glomerular filtration rate, serum creatinine level, and albumin-to-creatinine ratio, due to occupational heat stress, were other markers mentioned in primary studies.

This review highlighted the impact of occupational heat stress on renal function. Among the markers investigated in this review, most studies reported a positive association between occupational heat stress and dehydration.