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Am J Ind Med 2022 May 26. Epub 2022 May 26.

Graduate School of Social Work, Touro College and University System, New York City, New York, USA.

Background: This study assesses the relationship between managerialism and health among human service workers.

Methods: A total of 2154 New York City human service workers participated in an electronic survey that included validated measures of a system of work organization (the Organizational Commitment to Managerialism scale [OCTM]) and a work stressor (the Effort Reward Imbalance scale [ERI]), and single items about physical, mental, and behavioral health. Controlling for demographic variables, logistic regression models were used to predict health outcomes assess the potential role of ERI as a mediator. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 26. Epub 2022 May 26.

Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Background: Organic solvents have been suggested to increase the risk of breast cancer although the epidemiologic evidence is limited. This study explored the association between organic solvents and breast cancer.

Methods: This nested population-based case-control study comprised 845 women with primary breast cancer initially identified in the Danish Cancer Registry between 2000 and 2003, and 1500 controls matched on year of birth who were randomly selected from the Danish Civil Registration System. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 25. Epub 2022 May 25.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.

Background: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have uniquely useful chemical and physical properties, leading to their extensive industrial, commercial, and consumer applications since at least the 1950s. Some industries have publicly reported at least some degree of information regarding their PFAS use, while other industries have reported little, if any, such information publicly.

Methods: Publicly available sources were extensively researched for information. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 25. Epub 2022 May 25.

Economic Research and Support Office, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 22. Epub 2022 May 22.

California Department of Public Health, Occupational Health Branch, Richmond, California, USA.

Background: The workplace is a setting for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission via respiratory droplets and aerosols for those working in close proximity to others. Currently, limited methods exist for assessing SARS-CoV-2 exposure. Since occupation serves as a surrogate measure, job exposure matrices (JEMs) can be useful for population-based exposure assessment for a portion of exposure. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 21. Epub 2022 May 21.

School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Background: The services of Healthcare and Social Assistance (HCSA) workers are needed by society around the clock. As a result, these workers are exposed to shift work and long work hours. The combination of demanding work schedules and other hazards in the HCSA work environment increases the health and safety risks to these workers, as well as to their patients/clients and the public. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 19. Epub 2022 May 19.

Department of Biostatistics, West Virginia University School of Public Health, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA.

Background: While other studies have reported estimates of COVID-19 vaccine uptake by broad occupational group, little is known about vaccine uptake by detailed occupational category.

Methods: Data on COVID-19 vaccination were provided by US adults ages ≥18 years old who responded to the Facebook/Delphi Group COVID-19 Trends and Impact Survey (Delphi US CTIS) in April-May 2021, reported working for pay in the past 4 weeks, and answered questions about their COVID-19 vaccine status. Percentages of occupational groups reporting having had at least one COVID-19 vaccination were weighted to resemble the US general population and calculated for 23 major occupational groups and 120 detailed occupational categories in 15 major groups. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 18. Epub 2022 May 18.

Office of the Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 17. Epub 2022 May 17.

Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.

Background: California requires general acute care hospitals to have a comprehensive plan to prevent patient handling injuries (PHIs) among employees. The California safe patient handling (SPH) law took effect in 2012. This study assessed the impact of the SPH law on workers' compensation claims for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in California hospital workers. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 16. Epub 2022 May 16.

Institute for Work & Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Background: Health responses associated with occupational exposures can vary between men and women.

Aims: This study reviewed the work injury and disability risks associated with similar types of occupational exposures for men and women within and across occupations.

Materials & Methods: A systematic review was undertaken of observational studies published between 2009 and 2019. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 16. Epub 2022 May 16.

Public Health Program, School of Arts and Sciences, MCPHS University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Backgrounds: This study sought to assess if there were differences in exposure to job insecurity, shift work, work-life imbalance, workplace harassment, and nonstandard work arrangements according to race and ethnicity in the United States.

Methods: Using data from the nationally representative National Health Interview Survey conducted in 2015, we calculated the prevalence of job insecurity, shift work, work-life imbalance, workplace harassment, and nonstandard work arrangements according to race and ethnicity. Using this data, we then modeled the prevalence of these exposures while adjusting for covariates including occupation. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 16. Epub 2022 May 16.

Schools of Pharmacy, MCPHS University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Background: Incidence of drug poisoning deaths has increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Previous research has established that risks differ for drug poisoning death according to occupation, and that workers also have a different risk for exposure to and death from COVID-19. This study sought to determine whether workers in certain occupations had drug poisoning mortality rates that increased in 2020 (the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic) compared to the average mortality rate for workers in those occupations during the previous 3 years. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 11. Epub 2022 May 11.

Institute for Work & Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Background: This study examined the effectiveness of synchronous online learning (SOL) for occupational purposes relative to face-to-face (F2F) learning.

Methods: Seven bibliographic databases were searched, and publications meeting the inclusion criteria were sought. Title and abstract screening, article screening, methodological quality assessment, and data extraction were carried out by two independent reviewers. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 9. Epub 2022 May 9.

Division of Field Studies and Engineering, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

Background: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) produced an advisory list identifying essential critical infrastructure workers (ECIW) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response. The CISA advisory list is the most common national definition of ECIW but has not been mapped to United States (U.S. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 6. Epub 2022 May 6.

Henrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany.

Background: This study aims to analyze the association between occupational stressors, evaluated by the Effort-Reward Imbalance Model (ERI), and the occurrence of common mental disorders (CMD) among healthcare workers (HCW), additionally considering mediation by over-commitment from work (OW) and mediation of gender effects by work stressors.

Methods: Cross-sectional study, including a random sample of 3343 HCWs, from six municipalities of Bahia, Brazil. The ERI scale measured the occupational stressors (main exposure), and the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) was used to screen for CMD. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 6. Epub 2022 May 6.

Pulmonary Division, Heart Institute (InCor), Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive neoplasm that originates from hyperplasia and metaplasia of the mesothelial cells that cover the pleural cavity. Previous exposure to asbestos is the main risk factor. Since MPM is often diagnosed at an advanced stage with rapid evolution and resistance to treatment, it is associated with an unfavorable outcome. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 Jun 23;65(6):431-446. Epub 2022 Apr 23.

Center for Health, Work & Environment, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA.

Background: For occupational medical screening programs focused on long-term health surveillance, participant attrition is a significant barrier to success. We investigate demographic, medical history, and clinical data from National Supplemental Screening Program (NSSP) examinees for association with likelihood of return for a second exam (rescreening).

Methods: A total of 15,733 individuals completed at least one NSSP exam before December 31, 2016; of those, 4832 also completed a second exam on or before December 31, 2019. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 Jun 15;65(6):468-482. Epub 2022 Apr 15.

Department of Health, Society, and Behavior, Program in Public Health, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA.

Background: Many workers seek care for work-related medical conditions in primary care settings. Additionally, occupational medicine training is not consistently addressed in primary care professional training. These patterns raise concerns about the health outcomes of low-wage Latina/o immigrant workers who make use of primary care settings to obtain care for work-related injuries and illnesses. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 Jun 11;65(6):492-499. Epub 2022 Apr 11.

Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing Graduate Program, School of Nursing, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.

Purpose: The original effort-reward imbalance (ERI) questionnaire has been widely used as a measure of occupational stress. The need for brief measurement of psychosocial stress at work has risen. This study examined the psychometric properties of a 16-item short form ERI (S-ERI) questionnaire. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 Jun 5;65(6):500-511. Epub 2022 Apr 5.

Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, USA.

Background: Correctional workers are at high risk for exposure to trauma, both as direct violence and as threats to their safety and well-being. The distress associated with these critical incidents (CIs) affects mental and physical health. Current tools are limited for detecting CIs in this workforce and are therefore insufficient for addressing correctional worker trauma. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 Jun 29;65(6):447-467. Epub 2022 Mar 29.

School of Population Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia.

Background: Home care is a rapidly growing industry. Violence towards home care workers is common, while also likely underreported. This violence adversely affects the physical and mental health of both workers and care recipients. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 Mar 29. Epub 2022 Mar 29.

Department of Medicine, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.

The objectives of this study are to elucidate the early history of risk for pneumococcal pneumonia from occupational exposure to metal fumes and dusts, and to demonstrate the importance of searching older literature when performing reviews. We performed manual searching for articles in the Library of the Surgeon General's Office (the precursor to Index Medicus), in the Hathi Trust database, in PubMed, andby screening reference lists in literature appearing before the introduction of PubMed. An early body of literature, from the 1890s onward, recognized that pneumonia was linked to "Thomas slag," a steel industry byproduct containing iron, manganese, and lime. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 Jun 25;65(6):483-491. Epub 2022 Mar 25.

Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA.

Background: The objective of this study was to identify the most frequent type, nature, and cause of work-related injuries among distillery workers and the contributing factors for these events to target interventions to reduce injuries.

Methods: Workers' compensation first reports of injury (FROI) from the years 2010 through 2019 were obtained. Variables were created for "occupational category" and "cause of injury" for evaluation of the injurious events. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 Jun 22;65(6):512-513. Epub 2022 Mar 22.

Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

Am J Ind Med 2022 Mar 17. Epub 2022 Mar 17.

Western States Division, NIOSH, Anchorage, Alaska, USA.

Background: The transportation and utilities industries include establishments engaged in the movement of passengers and freight, or the provision of public power, water, and other services. Along with the warehousing industry, they make up the US National Occupational Research Agenda's Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities (TWU) industry sector. In 2018 the sector composed 5% of the US workforce, with approximately 8 million workers. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 15;65(5):323-342. Epub 2022 Mar 15.

Office of the Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

Measuring the ultimate impact of research on health and economic well-being has presented challenges that have rarely been surmounted, and research on preventing occupational injuries and illnesses is no exception. Nevertheless, there is an increasing need to demonstrate the value of publicly funded research. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently contracted with the RAND Corporation to conduct six in-depth case studies that aimed to quantify the benefits of key NIOSH research efforts using economic metrics. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 Mar 15. Epub 2022 Mar 15.

Office of the Associate Director, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 15;65(5):409-424. Epub 2022 Mar 15.

Verdi Technology, Inc., Reno, Nevada, USA.

Compliance with noise regulations in the past three decades has significantly reduced workplace noise exposures, particularly in the loudest industries and occupations. However, the overall effectiveness of hearing conservation programs in preventing occupational noise-induced hearing loss remains uncertain and unquantified, while the incidence and cost of occupational hearing loss remain inexplicably high. This review/commentary critically explores this paradox by examining why the billions of annual audiograms conducted worldwide have not been aggregately utilized or applied to predict early NIHL in groups of workers or to measure the efficacy of exposure controls. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 10;65(5):343-356. Epub 2022 Mar 10.

Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Background: Occupational exposures may play a role in breast cancer etiology, and research focusing on identifying high-risk workplaces is important to advance the understanding and prevention of breast cancer.

Methods: We undertook a population-based nested case-control study among women who were less than 70 years of age and born in Denmark, based on registry data including 38,375 breast cancer cases and 191,875 controls matched on year of birth, with information on lifetime work history. Odds ratios for women ever employed in a job branch were adjusted for socioeconomic status and reproductive variables. Read More

Am J Ind Med 2022 May 10;65(5):382-395. Epub 2022 Mar 10.

Division of Occupational Medicine, Centre for Environmental and Occupational Health Research, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.

Background: Health workers (HWs) are exposed to diverse cleaning agents in large hospitals. This study determined the prevalence of work-related symptoms, allergic sensitization, and lung function abnormalities in HWs of two tertiary hospitals in Southern Africa.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 699 HWs (South Africa: SAH, n = 346; Tanzania: TAH, n = 353) was conducted. Read More