Journal of Occupational Health and Epidemiology
Volume:2 Issue: 4, Autumn 2013

Exposure to respirable particulate matter containing silica in the working environment can lead to respiratory diseases and other health hazards. The current study was designed to estimate the prevalence of lung diseases and their determining factors in the stone carvers of Kerman, Iran. This was a cross-sectional study in which 67 male workers exposed to stone carving dust and 67 unexposed workers who were matched in regard to different characteristics were evaluated. Questionnaires were completed by the participants and chest radiography and spirometry were perfomed for each participant. Different outcomes were compared between the exposed and unexposed groups and also subgroups of the exposed. Data were analyzed using chi-square, t-test, Pearson''s correlation, and logistic regression through SPSS 16 and STATA 12 software. The mean annual cumulative exposure to respirable dust was 3.8 mg/m3, which was higher than the permissible limit. Symptoms, such as frequent coughs, wheezing, dyspnea, rhinorrhea, sinusitis, and hyposmia, were more prevalent in the exposed workers. Some pulmonary function parameters had decreased significantly in the exposed workers. Some factors related to working conditions, such as working in confined environments, small workshops, not using appropriate masks, increased daily working hours, and increase in working days, were significantly associated with exacerbation of respiratory symptoms. Despite the strong presence of the healthy worker effect, our study shows that high occupational exposure to particulate dust has led to respiratory symptoms, radiographic abnormalities, and decreased lung function in stone carvers of Kerman. This study urges more surveillance and control over works exposed to dust in developing countries.

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is an important occupational injury. Musculoskeletal injuries, especially CLBP, are prevalent in the nurses, and can lead to reduced productivity, work absenteeism, and work disability. The purpose of this study was to determine nurses'' knowledge of the risk factors of low back pain (LBP) and their self-efficacy in coping with the risk factors, and to evaluate CLBP preventive behaviors in nurses. This descriptive cross-sectional research was performed on 133 nurses selected randomly from 3 government hospitals affiliated with Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran. The data collection tool was a questionnaire on demographic characteristics, knowledge, self-efficacy, and practice of the nursing staff in CLBP preventive behaviors. Data was analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistical methods and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The mean age of the nurses was 32.1 ± 5.3. Our findings showed that in terms of LBP the nursing staff had average level of knowledge with a mean score of 60.2 ± 19.69 out of 100, average level of self-efficacy with a mean score of 55.9 ± 10.6 out of 100, and poor practice with a mean score of 43.9 ± 6.9 out of 100. The correlation between knowledge, and self-efficacy and practice was not significant, but self-efficacy showed a significant correlation with practice and being married (P < 0.05). According to our study, most participants lacked appropriate knowledge, self-efficacy, and practice with regard to CLBP preventive behaviors. Since back pain strongly affects the performance and service quality of the caregivers, the Iranian Ministry of Health and the related universities should make necessary educational and managerial arrangements to present educational programs aimed at CLBP prevention in the form of university courses, posters, films, workshops, and etcetera.

An important factor in the prevention of industrial accidents is the ability of employees to maintain awareness of the work situation, understand the information it holds, and predict how situations will develop. In the present study, we examined the role of fatalistic beliefs and safety climate in predicting occupational situation awareness (SA) among workers. This was a cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 180 employees of one petrochemical industry in Asaluyeh, Iran, in 2014. Subjects were selected using the stratified random sampling method and responded to questionnaires about demographic characteristics, occupational SA (Sneddon et al.), fatalistic beliefs (Williamson et al.), and safety climate (Hayes et al.). The data were analyzed using correlation techniques and stepwise regression. The results showed internal correlation among fatalistic beliefs, safety climate, and occupational SA. Moreover, the results of stepwise regression analysis revealed that fatalistic beliefs and safety climate significantly predicted, respectively, almost 18% and 20% of variances of occupational SA among workers. According to the findings of the present study, fatalistic beliefs and safety climate can predict occupational SA. Therefore, considering these variables can be important in promoting the awareness of work situation among workers.

The employees of welfare centers, due to the special conditions of their work, may be exposed to excessive occupational stress and workload. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of workload and occupational stress on the general health of female employees of public welfare centers. This was a correlational research on 63 female employees of 3 welfare centers. The data were collected using the Occupational Stress Inventory (OSI), NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Data analysis was conducted using SPSS software by computing the Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients and the stepwise regression. The general health score of 66% of staff of the welfare centers was higher than the cutoff point, as limit determinant of health and non-health. Among the different dimensions of general health, social disorders obtained the highest score; 74% of staff had social problems. The workload score of 12% of women was higher than 70 (high workload) and the workload score of 71.42% of women was between 40 and 70 (intermediate). Mean score of General Health Care of mentally ill disabled, and elderly employees was, respectively, 21.12, 27.21, and 24.90. The Occupational Stress Inventory score of the study population was 151.04, indicating that welfare employees were not exposed to high rates of stress in their work environment. The results of the study suggest that authorities should pay special attention to ergonomics factors affecting the general health of welfare employees, especially with respect to social disorders. Moreover, personality traits should also be considered in employing of individuals.

Farmers and welders who work in open spaces and are exposed to direct sunlight are often exposed to sunlight radiation o n the neck and head. Thus, they may be afflicted with various types of skin cancer. The aim of the present study was to investigate the amount of UV exposure in welders working in Shahrud City, Iran. Materials and Method s: This cross-sectional, descriptive, analytical study was conducted from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in indoor environments on all welders working in Shahrud City (n = 50) in 2014. An ultraviolet radiation (UVR) meter was used to measure UV R and the instrument was calibrated and utilized using factory instruction s. Moreover, All data obtained through the demographic checklist and self-reporting, and information related to UV R exposure were entered into SPSS software and analyzed. The results showed that average UVR exposure with personal protection was 0.27 ± 1.15, average UVR exposure without personal protection was 4.14 ± 1.69. In addition, skin radiation exposure amount was 2.55 ± 1.54. There was no significant statistical relationship between presence of disease, and radiation expsoure with or without protection euqipment and on the skin of welders (P > 0.05). This study indicated that UVR is among the main harmful factors in occupational environments. Welders are vulnerable to skin and eye disease due to UVR exposure. UV exposure in welders working in Shahrud City is below the threshold value; therefore, it can cause injury and damage to the welders. Furthermore, insurance status, daily radiation exposure amount, received radiation exposure amount, and use of protection equipment had no significant relationship with incidence of disease in welders. Keywords:

It seems that weight gain and body composition changes occur during the first year of college . The aim of this study was the comparison of body composition among freshmen medical sciences students one term after entering Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences , South East of Iran.
All freshmen medicine (n = 73) and nursing- midwifery students (n = 57) of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences who had registered for the fall of 2013 were participated in this descriptive study. After obtaining written consents from the participants, their demographic information was collected. Then, using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), body composition of all the students was measured and recorded. Data were analyzed using independent two-sample t-test, paired t-test, and Wilcoxon signed-ranks test.
The difference between medical and nursing/midwifery students in terms of changes in body fat percentage ( 1.92 ± 2.87 versus -0.29 ± 2.21, respectively ) ( P There was a statistically significant difference between medical and nursing/midwifery students in terms of fat percentage, fat free mass, and total body water content. It seems that the differences between the two groups might be because of being native or nonnative students.

The aim of this paper was the comparison of ergonomic risk assessment results (final score and action levels) for the entire body as determined using Quick Exposure Check (QEC) and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA).
This was a cross-sectional study in which all 82 workers engaged in various processes with different activities in an anodizing and aluminum profiles producing industry in Tehran, Iran, were studied. The REBA and QEC ergonomic risk assessment techniques and Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) were used in order to assess the correlation between results of the two methods and evaluate the correlation between the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and the results of these two methods.
Studied postures, using QEC and REBA assessment methods, acquired the risk levels, respectively, of low risk = 10.9%, moderate risk = 25.5%, and high/very high risk = 63.6% in QEC. They obtained the risk levels of low risk = 56.3%, moderate risk = 40%, and high/very high risk = 12.7%, respectively, in REBA. The kappa (0.12) and gamma scores (0.51) showed no agreement between the outputs of the two tools. No significant correlation (P > 0.05) was found between final scores of these two methods and prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders.
These results indicate that the risk assessment outcomes of these two ergonomic assessment tools for the entire body do not agree. Thus, there is no possibility of applying them interchangeably for postural risk assessment, at least not in this industry.

We are living in an era in which different branches of science are growing very rapidly. Therefore, retrieving and summarizing all new valid findings on a specific subject is one of the most important priorities of scientists. The aim of the present article is to categorize different review studies within the health domain based on their approach to retrieving and summarizing original findings.
The most relevant articles have been selected and summarized in order to accomplish the aim of the study.
Narrative reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analyses from published data, and individual participant data meta-analyses are different types of review studies. More recently, prospectively planned pooled analyses have also been introduced.
Diverse types of review studies have been developed one by one over the course of time based on their approaches to retrieving and summarizing original findings. Therefore, they have their own especial applications and scientists of different disciplines need to know their advantages and disadvantages.