نشریه طب کار
سال پانزدهم شماره 4 (پیاپی 53، زمستان 1402)

There is considerable potential between the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive ergonomics. The purpose of this thesis is to support increasing attention to the synergy between artificial intelligence and cognitive ergonomics, as well as the urgent need to explore it in research and practice.Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of the modern workplace, transforming industries, increasing productivity, and streamlining processes. However, as AI technologies continue to evolve, it is essential to consider the human side of this digital transformation. Ergonomics, the science of designing workspaces and tools that fit the people who use them, is a critical element in ensuring that the integration of artificial intelligence into the workplace increases employee well-being, efficiency, and overall success.With its rapid advancements, artificial intelligence is revolutionizing various fields and industries, from healthcare to self-driving vehicles and financial services. While the potential benefits are obvious, the ethical, cognitive, and ergonomic implications are just as important. Cognitive ergonomics is a sub-branch of ergonomics that deals with the design and evaluation of systems and technologies that support human cognitive processes such as perception, attention, memory, and decision-making. The field of cognitive ergonomics, which primarily focuses on Optimizing human-system interaction is the key to ensuring that artificial intelligence systems are designed and implemented in a way that aligns with human capacities, abilities, and cognitive limitations . Current AI implementations typically adopt a technology-driven focus, and employees are expected to adapt to the technology. In this technology-driven focus, the performance, performance, and accuracy of AI are optimized, but these aspects are considered separately. This point of view raises various critical considerations that are often neglected in the design and implementation of advanced technologies and sometimes have disastrous consequences. From the point of view of ergonomics, the design of artificial intelligence should be transferred from a technology-oriented focus to a systemic and human perspective. By applying a focus on personnel, artificial intelligence should be meaningfully and safely designed and integrated into work processes with the aim of optimizing overall system performance and people's well-being.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are one of the most common occupational complaints among dentists. Accurate assessment of the pain caused by these disorders is of paramount importance in its better control. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and evaluate the correlation of the Visual Analogue Scale with the different dimensions of the McGill Pain Questionnaire in dental students in the city of Tehran.

In this cross-sectional descriptive-correlation study conducted among 120 dental students in Tehran in 2020-2021, data related to musculoskeletal disorders were collected through the Nordic questionnaire. Pain assessment was also performed using the Visual Analogue Scale and McGill Pain Questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 26 and statistical tests, including chi-square, Spearman, and Pearson correlation, to examine the relationship between the two measures.

In this study, the highest prevalence of disorders was observed in the neck region (42.5%), upper back (35%), and lower back (31.7%). Neck pain and discomfort, in the last 12 months, caused a reduction in work activity more than any other region among the participants. Significant correlations were found between the Visual Pain Scale and the Sensory (r=0.543, p=0.011), Affective (r=0.549, p=0.020), and Evaluative (r=0.538, p=0.035) dimensions of the McGill Pain Questionnaire.

The present study indicates that work-related musculoskeletal disorders are common in dental students. There is a high correlation between the Visual Pain Scale and the McGill Pain Questionnaire in assessing pain intensity.

 The valuable activity of informal recyclers, or salters, itinerants in the direction of sustainability and environmental protection is not hidden from anyone. Unfortunately, this occupational group has been neglected, and organizational, support, and health institutions pay less attention to these people, so we felt it necessary to investigate the threats related to the occupation of these people in Kerman City.

 This is a cross-sectional descriptive study. The statistical population in the form of a census includes 232 informal recycling centers and 294 informal recyclers who entered the study voluntarily and with their consent at first, field research collecting information and completing questionnaires through observation and interviews with a face-to-face referral from 2021 to 2022, and then the data were collected. In the end, the necessary analysis and interpretation were done using SPSS software version 19 and the Chi-score test.

Results showed that 51.4% of the participants declared health and health problems as the most important threat to their jobs, and there was a significant relationship between job threats and gender (p-value=0.003).About 20% of people did not use any personal protective equipment. There was a significant relationship between the lack of use of personal protective equipment and the number of visits to health centers (p-value=0.048). The most occupational threats of the recyclers were sharp objects, contact with chemicals and vapors and smoke from waste fuel, musculoskeletal problems, especially back and leg pain, bites by stray animals, and skin dermatitis.

 The government and the Ministry of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education should pay more attention to the threats related to the job of informal recyclers, the most obvious of which is health and safety.

 The commitment of nurses to their jobs and patients has made nursing one of the human service professions susceptible to burnout syndrome. Therefore, the present study aimed to predict burnout based on metacognitive beliefs and alexithymia with the mediation of optimism in nurses.

 The current research was based on applied purpose and descriptive-correlational research design, specifically, structural equation modeling. The statistical population in this research was all the nurses in the hospitals of Qom City in 1401, and 200 nurses were randomly selected to participate in the present research. In this field study, the participants completed  Burnout questionnaires by Meslech and Jackson (1986), a metacognition questionnaire by Wells and Cartwright-Houghton (2004), the Toronto dyslexia scale, and the Scheer and Carver optimism scale (1994). Data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation test and structural equation model using SPSS-24 and AMOS-24 software.

 The results showed that the correlation coefficients between the variables are significant (p<0.01) and there is a positive and significant relationship between metacognitive beliefs and alexithymia with burnout in nurses, and there is a negative and significant relationship between optimism and burnout (p<0.01). Also, there was a negative and significant relationship between metacognitive beliefs and alexithymia and nurses' optimism (p<0.01). Also, the results of the path analysis showed that optimism plays a mediating role in the relationship between metacognitive beliefs and alexithymia with nurses' burnout.

 In general, current research emphasizes the importance of optimism in the relationship between metacognitive beliefs and alexithymia with nurses' burnout and optimism is an effective factor in reducing nurses' burnout.

Noise is one of the most important environmental stressors, which, along with the prevalence of exposure in the work and living environment, has various effects. Noise exposure can create positive or negative consequences at different levels. Based on this, in the present study, brain wave changes in exposure to different levels of noise were investigated. In this experimental study, 72 student volunteers with an average age of 26.27 years old, participated in this study after meeting the exclusion criteria and receiving sufficient training regarding the implementation procedure. Before starting the test, demographic questionnaires, noise sensitivity, and audiometry were completed for the participants. For exposure, a noise level of 45 dB was chosen as the background sound, and three levels of 75, 85, and 95 dB were selected for exposure. The participants were exposed to the determined facial pressure level for half an hour and rested for half an hour after that. During exposure to the noise, the brain waves of the volunteers were used by the portable EEG device Ewave, 16 channels. And the results were analyzed by the mat lab v12 software. The results of the study show that exposure to two levels of 75 and 85 dB of absolute power alpha has increased in 14 brain channels, including CZ and O2 channels. The results showed that the noise level of 75 dB compared to the background state did not change significantly in any of the channels (P>0.05). At the level of 85 and 95 dB, the absolute power of the beta frequency band has increased. At the level of 95 dB, this increase is statistically noticeable and significant in almost all brain regions (P<0.05). Based on the results of this study, it can be said that exposure to noise causes changes in neuronal activities in the brain, and this can affect the performance of the exposed workers.

 Emotional intelligence, as the ability to recognize and control one's emotions and feelings, is considered a new psychological approach to evaluating behavior in workplaces. Job stress, as an imbalance between job needs and individual abilities, has always been one of the main challenges of workplaces. Therefore, this research was conducted in one of the oil industries in Tehran to investigate the effect of employees' emotional intelligence on their job stress. 

  This research is a practical and analytical cross-sectional study. The population of this research, consisting of 300 employees, was selected by random stratified sampling. In this research, two questionnaires, Bar-On emotional intelligence, and HSE job stress were completed. Also, for data analysis, LISREL 8.72 and SPSS 18 software were used to estimate the causal effect between research variables and calculate descriptive indices as well as compare average variables.

 The employees' emotional intelligence and job stress had a significant inverse relationship; In other words, a higher level of emotional intelligence was associated with lower job stress. The subscales of responsibility and self-expression in the emotional intelligence test, and the subscales of relationship and role in the job stress test, had the highest and lowest numerical values in each test, respectively. Also, based on the results, employees' emotional intelligence levels and job stress were independent of their age and education level.

 Employees' emotional intelligence level affects their amount of job stress. Therefore, applying emotional intelligence skills in workplaces can significantly reduce the level of employees' job stress.

 Musculoskeletal disorders are among the main causes of discomfort and disability in dental laboratory workers and are increasing due to the type of occupational tasks of the employees. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the staff of dental laboratories in Yazd. 

 This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 37 dental technicians. The Nordic questionnaire was used to collect data on musculoskeletal discomfort. The data was analyzed by SPSS (Ver. 20) using descriptive statistics.

 The highest frequency of discomfort in the last 12 months was in the lumbar region (43.2%), neck (29.7%), and wrists and hands (21.6%). The highest frequency of musculoskeletal disorders in the last 12 months was in the lumbar region (24.3%), neck (16.2%), back, buttocks and thighs (10.8%). Musculoskeletal disorders in the lumbar (21.6%) and shoulder region (24.3%) were the most common causes of absence from work and job change, respectively.

 The results of this study showed a high frequency of musculoskeletal disorders in dental laboratory workers, and a high frequency of job change and absence from the workplace due to these disorders.

 Primary thrombocytosis is a chronic disease that can increase the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disorders. According to the common age of onset of the disease, this study was conducted to evaluate fitness for work in people with this disease.

 This article reviewed relevant evidence from 12 studies conducted between 1930 and 2023 obtained from authoritative databases such as Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, etc.

 The review of these studies showed that to evaluate fitness for work, especially in safety-sensitive jobs, it is necessary to assess the risk of major complications related to this disorder, especially thrombotic and bleeding events. Factors such as age, family history of disorders, clinical symptoms, laboratory findings, history of thrombotic events, and duration of thrombocytosis should be considered. In addition, when evaluating fitness for work in these patients, the possibility of exacerbation of symptoms in working conditions, the risk of thrombotic events and bleeding, and the impact of these disorders on the individual's work and life and injury to colleagues should be considered.

 In people with primary thrombocytosis, related symptoms such as headache, dizziness, tinnitus, weight loss, night sweats, or fever should be investigated and preliminary tests should be requested. It is recommended to evaluate the working conditions in terms of the possibility of aggravation of symptoms, the occurrence of complications related to the disease, access to medical services, and finally making a decision about fitness for work based on the level of risk and the conditions of the work environment.