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  • Articles  (151)
  • BMJ Publishing Group  (151)
  • 2015-2019  (151)
  • 2017  (151)
  • 1
    Publication Date: 2017-12-15
    Description: Inhalation of crystalline silica dust is a well-known occupational health hazard that is a risk factor for silicosis, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, autoimmune disorders and chronic renal disease. 1 2 Crystalline silica is a common component of the earth’s crust and occurs in many materials that workers extract, manufacture or manipulate. Consequently, occupational exposure to crystalline silica is common in both low-income/middle-income and developed nations. For example, the number of silica-exposed workers has been estimated at 2 million in Brazil, 2  3.2 million in the European Union, 3  10 million in India 2 and 2.3 million in the USA. 1 These workers are employed in many industries, including construction; mining; quarries and stone crushing operations; foundries; abrasive blasting of buildings, bridges and metal products and manufacturing of bricks, concrete, ceramics and glass. If there is awareness of the hazard, harmful exposures to crystalline silica can be...
    Print ISSN: 1351-0711
    Electronic ISSN: 1470-7926
    Topics: Medicine
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  • 2
    Publication Date: 2017-12-15
    Description: Purpose Work-related psychosocial factors may precipitate the onset of depression. In occupational mental health research, there are three widely used theoretical models, namely, job demand and control (JD-C), effort-reward imbalance (ERI) and work-family conflicts (WFC). However, the interaction between these models and their combined effect on the risk of major depression in the workplace is largely unknown. The aim of this study is to examine the longitudinal combined effects of JD-C, ERI and WFC on the risk of major depression in the working population. Methods Longitudinal data (2008-2013) were collected on randomly selected participants (n=4200) from the working population of the province of Alberta, Canada, at baseline and 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-year follow-up. Data about JD-C, ERI, WFC and major depression were collected by trained interviewers using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing method. Generalised estimating equations for longitudinal modelling were used. Results There was an independent association between high ERI and high WFC at t x and major depression at t x+1 (OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.25 to 1.96; OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.52), respectively. The combined effects of JD-C and ERI, ERI and WFC, and WFC and JD-C on the risk of major depression were as follows: OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.22 to 2.42, OR 2.47, 95% CI 1.99 to 3.49 and OR 2.21, 95% CI 1.48 to 3.30, respectively. The relative excess risks attributable to the interactions were statistically non-significant. Conclusions Work-related psychosocial factors are associated with increased risk of major depression over time, but their combined effect is not synergistic. The effects of the factors depicted in the three occupational health models on the risk of major depression appear to be additive.
    Keywords: Psychiatry
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    Topics: Medicine
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  • 3
    Publication Date: 2017-12-15
    Description: Introduction Artificial stone is an increasingly popular material used to fabricate kitchen and bathroom benchtops. Cutting and grinding artificial stone is associated with generation of very high levels of respirable crystalline silica, and the frequency of cases of severe silicosis associated with this exposure is rapidly increasing. Aim To report the characteristics of a clinical series of Australian workers with artificial stone-associated silicosis. Methods Respiratory physicians voluntarily reported cases of artificial stone-associated silicosis identified in their clinical practices. Physicians provided information including occupational histories, respiratory function tests, chest radiology and histopathology reports, when available. Results Seven male patients were identified with a median age of 44 years (range 26–61). All were employed in small kitchen and bathroom benchtop fabrication businesses with an average of eight employees (range 2–20). All workplaces primarily used artificial stone, and dust control measures were poor. All patients were involved in dry cutting artificial stone. The median duration of exposure prior to symptoms was 7 years (range 4–10). Six patients demonstrated radiological features of progressive massive fibrosis. These individuals followed up over a median follow-up period of 16 months (IQR 21 months) demonstrated rapid decline in prebronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s of 386 mL/year (SD 204 mL) and forced vital capacity of 448 mL/year (SD 312 mL). Conclusions This series of silicosis in Australian workers further demonstrates the risk-associated high-silica content artificial stone. Effective dust control and health surveillance measures need to be stringently implemented and enforced in this industry.
    Keywords: Editor's choice
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    Topics: Medicine
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  • 4
    Publication Date: 2017-12-15
    Description: Background Little is known about occupational risk factors for meningioma. Objectives To study whether risk of meningioma is associated with several occupational exposures, including selected combustion products, dusts and other chemical agents. Methods The INTEROCC study was an international case-control study of brain cancer conducted in seven countries. Data collection by interview included lifetime occupational histories. A job exposure matrix was used to derive estimates of exposure for the 12 agents. ORs for ever versus never exposed and for exposure-response using duration of exposure and cumulative exposure were derived using conditional logistic regression stratified by sex, age group, country/region, adjusted for education. Results These analyses included 1906 cases and 5565 controls. For 11 of the 12 agents, no excess risk was found for ever exposed. For ever exposure to oil mists, an elevated OR of 1.57 (95% CI 1.10 to 2.22, 51 exposed cases) was found. Statistically significant exposure-response relationships were observed with cumulative exposure (p=0.01) and duration of exposure (p=0.04). Among women, there were also significant trends for cumulative and duration of exposure to asbestos and excesses in the highest exposure categories for formaldehyde. Conclusions Most agents examined did not provoke excess risks of meningioma. The main finding from this study is that it is the first study to identify a statistical association between exposure to oil mists and meningioma. This may be a chance finding or could be due to confounding with iron exposure and further research is required to understand whether the relationship is causal.
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    Topics: Medicine
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  • 5
    Publication Date: 2017-12-15
    Description: Objectives To prospectively investigate the association between occupational physical activity (OPA) and disability pension due to musculoskeletal cause, mental cause or any cause. We also examined the combined association of OPA and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) with disability pension. Methods A population-based cohort study in Norway on 32 362 persons aged 20–65 years with questionnaire data on OPA and LTPA that were followed up for incident disability pension through the National Insurance Database. We used Cox regression to estimate adjusted HRs with 95% CIs. Results During a follow-up of 9.3 years, 3837 (12%) received disability pension. Compared with people with mostly sedentary work, those who performed much walking, much walking and lifting, and heavy physical work had HRs of 1.26 (95% CI 1.16 to 1.38), 1.44 (95% CI 1.32 to 1.58) and 1.48 (95% CI 1.33 to 1.70), respectively. These associations were stronger for disability pension due to musculoskeletal disorders, whereas there was no clear association between OPA and risk of disability pension due to mental disorders. People with high OPA and low LTPA had a HR of 1.77 (95% CI 1.58 to 1.98) for overall disability pension and HR of 2.56 (95% CI 2.10 to 3.11) for disability pension due to musculoskeletal disorders, versus low OPA and high LTPA. Conclusions We observed a positive association between OPA and risk of disability pension due to all causes and musculoskeletal disorders, but not for mental disorders. Physical activity during leisure time reduced some, but not all of the unfavourable effect of physically demanding work on risk of disability pension.
    Keywords: Public health, Open access
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    Topics: Medicine
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  • 6
    Publication Date: 2017-12-15
    Description: Objectives Three hundred and thirty thousand Italians arrived in Australia between 1945 and 1966, many on assisted passage schemes where the worker agreed to a 2-year unskilled employment contract. Italians were the largest of 52 migrant groups employed at the Wittenoom blue asbestos mining and milling operation. We compare mortality from asbestos-related diseases among Italian and Australian workers employed at Wittenoom. Methods A cohort of 6500 male workers was established from employment records and followed up at state and national mortality and cancer registries. SMRs were calculated to compare mortality with the Western Australian male population. Time-varying Cox proportional hazards models compared the risk of mesothelioma between Australian and Italian workers. Results 1031 Italians and 3465 Australians worked at Wittenoom between 1943 and 1966. Duration of employment was longer for the Italian workers, although the concentration of exposure was similar. The mesothelioma mortality rate per 100 000 was higher in Italians (184, 95% CI 148 to 229) than Australians (128, 95% CI 111 to 149). The risk of mesothelioma was greater than twofold (HR 2.27, 95% CI 1.43 to 3.60) in Italians at the lowest asbestos exposure category (〈10 fibre years/per mL). Conclusions A hierarchy in migration, isolation and a shortage of workers led to Italians at Wittenoom incurring higher cumulative exposure to blue asbestos and subsequently a greater rate of malignant mesothelioma than Australian workers. Impact Poor working conditions and disparities between native and foreign-born workers has had a detrimental and differential impact on the long-term health of the workforce.
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    Topics: Medicine
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  • 7
    Publication Date: 2017-12-15
    Description: Objectives Stress pathways can have origins in childhood, but few early predictors have been explored in relation to adult job stress. This study examined whether childhood school, health or socioeconomic factors were associated with adult job stress. Methods Data came from the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health study that began in 1985 with children aged 7–15 years who reported effortreward imbalance (ERI) scales at ages 31–41 years. Linear regression assessed the association between childhood factors and adult ERI adjusted for age and socioeconomic position (SEP) in childhood and adulthood. Results There were between 999 and 1390 participants in each analysis. Lower adulthood ERI, indicating less job stress, was predicted by several school-related factors in men. For example, each higher category of learner self-concept was associated with a 19% (95% CI – 32% to 6%) reduction in adult ERI, and each unit increase in academic attainment was associated with a 15% (95% CI –28% to 3%) reduction in adult ERI. Childhood health was associated with adult ERI. For example, in women, overweight children had 14% (95% CI 5% to 22%) higher adult ERI scores compared with healthy weight children, and each unit of negative affect was associated with 2% (95% CI 1% to 4%) increase in adult ERI. Adult SEP had no effect on these associations for men but explained some of the effect in women. Childhood SEP had inconsistent associations with adult ERI. Conclusion Our findings suggest that a range of childhood socioeconomic, school- and health-related factors might contribute to the development of job stress in adulthood.
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  • 8
    Publication Date: 2017-12-15
    Description: Background Municipal drinking water contaminated with perfluorinated alkyl acids had been distributed to one-third of households in Ronneby, Sweden. The source was firefighting foam used in a nearby airfield since the mid-1980s. Clean water was provided from 16 December 2013. Objective To determine the rates of decline in serum perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), and their corresponding half-lives. Methods Up to seven blood samples were collected between June 2014 and September 2016 from 106 participants (age 4–84 years, 53% female). Results Median initial serum concentrations were PFHxS, 277 ng/mL (range 12–1660); PFOS, 345 ng/mL (range 24–1500); and PFOA, 18 ng/mL (range 2.4–92). The covariate-adjusted average rates of decrease in serum were PFHxS, 13% per year (95% CI 12% to 15%); PFOS, 20% per year (95% CI 19% to 22%); and PFOA, 26% per year (95% CI 24% to 28%). The observed data are consistent with a first-order elimination model. The mean estimated half-life was 5.3 years (95% CI 4.6 to 6.0) for PFHxS, 3.4 years (95% CI 3.1 to 3.7) for PFOS and 2.7 years (95% CI 2.5 to 2.9) for PFOA. The interindividual variation of half-life was around threefold when comparing the 5th and 95th percentiles. There was a marked sex difference with more rapid elimination in women for PFHxS and PFOS, but only marginally for PFOA. Conclusions The estimated half-life for PFHxS was considerably longer than for PFOS and PFOA. For PFHxS and PFOS, the average half-life is shorter than the previously published estimates. For PFOA the half-life is in line with the range of published estimates.
    Keywords: Open access
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    Topics: Medicine
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  • 9
    Publication Date: 2017-12-15
    Description: Objectives Depression can negatively impact work capacity, but treatment effects on sick leave and employment are unclear. This study evaluates if internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy (ICBT) or physical exercise (PE), with already reported positive effects on clinical outcome and short-term work ability, has better effects on employment, sick leave and long-term work ability compared with treatment as usual (TAU) for depressed primary care patients (German clinical trials: DRKS00008745). Methods After randomisation and exclusion of patients not relevant for work-related analysis, patients were divided into two subgroups: initially unemployed (total n=118) evaluated on employment, and employed (total n=703) evaluated on long-term sick leave. Secondary outcomes were self-rated work ability and average number of sick days per month evaluated for both subgroups. Assessments (self-reports) were made at baseline and follow-up at 3 and 12 months. Results For the initially unemployed subgroup, 52.6% were employed after 1 year (response rate 82%). Both PE (risk ratio (RR)=0.44; 95% CI 0.23 to 0.87) and ICBT (RR=0.37; 95% CI 0.16 to 0.84) showed lower rates compared with TAU after 3 months, but no difference was found after 1 year (PE: RR=0.97; 95% CI 0.69 to 1.57; ICBT: RR=1.23; 95% CI 0.72 to 2.13). For those with initial employment, long-term sick leave (response rate 75%) decreased from 7.8% to 6.5%, but neither PE (RR=1.4; 95% CI 0.52 to 3.74) nor ICBT (RR=0.99; 95% CI 0.39 to 2.46) decreased more than TAU, although a temporary positive effect for PE was found. All groups increased self-rated work ability with no differences found. Conclusions No long-term effects were found for the initially unemployed on employment status or for the initially employed on sick leave. New types of interventions need to be explored.
    Keywords: Open access
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    Topics: Medicine
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  • 10
    Publication Date: 2017-12-15
    Description: The report by Araki et al is important for a number of reasons, most significantly that it is the first-ever study of pleural abnormalities potentially related to asbestos in a large, general population (the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) Third Generation cohort) that is based on chest CT scans rather than chest radiographs. 1 Pleural abnormalities were reported to be present in 1.5% of the study population. A key conclusion of the study was that the prevalence of pleural abnormalities in the present study was significantly lower than what was observed in NHANES II (3.9%), and this was taken as evidence in support of reduced asbestos exposures in the decades since the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) II data were collected in the period 1976–1980. 2 It is important to note that the results of NHANES II were based on chest radiographs, while the results for the FHS...
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