bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
O6E.4 Metabolome and exposome profiling: new opportunities to study risk factors for parkinson’s disease
Authors: Peters Susan , Walker Douglas , Miller Gary , Chadeau-Hyam Marc , Vineis Paolo , Gallo Valentina , Vermeulen Roel
Published: May 2020

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer disease and is imposing an increasing social and economic burden in ageing populations. Although the role of environmental factors has been recognised, few established risk factors have been consistently identified. Evidence that exposure to pesticides, herbicides and metals increase PD risk is suggestive, but further research is needed to identify specific compounds that may play a causal role.

Large established prospective population studies offer an important opportunity for investigating risk factors in relatively rare diseases such as PD. Within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort, 734 incident PD cases have been ascertained, for whom pre-diagnostic blood has been stored. A nested case-control study will be conducted, where one control per case will be selected by incidence density sampling matched by age at recruitment, sex and study centre.

Untargeted metabolomics can simultaneously characterize thousands of endogenous and exogenous compounds within a biological sample: the metabolome. Metabolome wide association studies (MWAS) have identified significant differences in the metabolomic profile of older adults with and without PD. We will employ an innovative approach combining liquid and gas phase chromatography with ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC/GC-UHRMS), to identify exogenous chemical exposures (e.g. pollutants, pesticides and medications), the exposome, in addition to the metabolome.

Disease specific variability in blood metabolite compositions may signify the presence of mechanistic aberrations contributing to PD pathogenesis. The combination of metabolome and exposome profiling provides a measure of the continuum from exposure to disease. Allowing previously unavailable richness and depth for characterizing the metabolome and exposome upon which novel discoveries in PD can be made.

The EPIC cohort allows us to perform a to study the metabolome and exposome well before disease onset, to eliminate possible effects of levodopa medication or disease-related processes.
O6E.5 Occupation and risk of amyotrophic laterals sclerosis (ALS) in denmark
Authors: Dickerson Aisha , Hansen Johnni , Kiumourzoglou Marianthi-Anna , Specht Aron , Gredal Ole , Weisskopf Marc
Published: May 2020

Introduction

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare and complex neurodegenerative disease, which is highly fatal. It is known that 5%–10% of ALS cases are hereditary, but apart from this the causes for sporadic of ALS are unknown. Some evidence, however, suggests that manifestation and progression may be associated with certain occupational exposures, e.g. exposure to formaldehyde, lead and military service. The aim of this study is to survey the occupational risk of ALS in Denmark based on nationwide registries.

Methods

We identified 1826 ALS cases who were 25 years old or less in 1964 and diagnosed from 1982 to 2013 from the Danish National Patient Registry, which cover all hospitals in Denmark. We matched 100 ALS free population controls to each case based on birth year and sex. Information on demographic data were obtained from the national Population Register and linked by the unique personal indentifier, assigned to all residents, to the Danish Pension Fund (DPF) to determine individual employment history from 1964. All employees in Denmark are compulsory members of DPF. Conditional logistic regression models were uses for estimation of odds ratios OR and their 95% confidence intervals, adjusted for socioeconomic status, marital status and residential location.

Results

We observed increased OR of ALS among men who worked in e.g. agriculture, hunting, forestry or fishing (OR=1.2; 1.0–1.5). There was also a positive association for men employed in construction (OR=1.2; 1.1–1.4). In women, no significant increases were observed, but a protective association was seen with employment in the cleaning industry (OR=0.7; 0.5–0.9).

Conclusions

Our study shows various occupations with exposure to toxicants, such as diesel exhaust and lead, and strenuous physical activity associated with increased odds of ALS in men. Future studies should have a particular focus on gathering detailed information on physical exertion and exposure to specific chemicals.
O7A.3 Creating safer workplaces: learning from work-related fatal injury in new zealand
Authors: Lilley Rebbecca , McNoe Bronwen , Davie Gabrielle , Graaf Brandon de , Horsburgh Simon , Maclennan Brett , Driscoll Tim
Published: May 2020

Background

NZ’s workplace fatality record is high compared to similar countries, with a rate twice that of Australia and four times that of the UK. The reasons for NZ’s substandard performance are highly debated, and in-depth analysis to inform this debate is limited by a dearth of detailed fatality data. This study aims to inform work-related injury prevention efforts for NZ by: i) enumerating the fatal injury burden; and ii) identifying high risk groups and circumstances to prioritise and target preventive action.

Methods

A dataset spanning forty-years of Coronial records was created by collecting data for the period 1995–2014 and appending this to existing data for 1975–1994. Data collection involved: 1) identifying possible cases aged 0–84 years from mortality records using injury external cause codes, 2) linking these to Coronial records 3) retrieving and reviewing records for work-relatedness, and 4) coding work-related cases. Work-related cases were classified as workers, bystanders, commuters or students. Work-related injury frequencies and rates per 1 00 000 workers for the most recent 20 year period were calculated by age, sex, employment status, occupation and industry.

Results

Of 17 658 injury fatalities reviewed for the period 1995–2014, 3766 (23%) were work-related, of which 1762 were workers. This corresponds to an overall rate of fatal injury of 4.7 (95% CI 4.5, 5.0) per 1 00 000 workers. Rates of fatal injury were highest for older workers aged 70–84 years (18.1, 95% CI 14.8, 21.8) and males (8.1, 95% CI 7.7, 8.5). The two industry groups with the highest burden of fatal injury were the Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries and Transport, Postal and Warehouse.

Conclusions

This research demonstrates an innovative use of coronial data, and provides a rare example of the establishment of a continuous and comprehensive long-term coronial dataset. It will be used to generate knowledge for informing workplace preventive strategies in NZ.
O7A.4 Hazards and injuries associated among small scale gold miners in the philippines
Authors: Lu Jinky Leilanie
Published: May 2020

Worldwide, small-scale mining (SSM) provides employment to about 13 million people and affects the livelihood of 80–100 million. This study investigated the ergonomic and safety hazards of small scale miners in one of the largest small scale mining area in the Philippines which is the area of Itogon, Benguet. There were 93 small scale miners who were included in the study as they complied with the inclusion criteria. The methods consisted of survey questionnaires, health physical examination guide, individual interviews, and work process observation tool. The results showed that the small-scale miners worked for an average of 10.7 years, and a maximum work year of 40. The most widely employed mining technique was the dog-hole mining consisting of several sub-processes -tunneling, ball milling and gravity concentration, cyanide leaching, and smelting. The ergonomic and safety hazards identified were noise exposure from the dynamite blast, temperature extremes, and exposure to dust from dynamite blasting. The miners experienced prolonged crouching and bending, prolonged handling of tools, and carrying heavy sacks filled with mineral ores. In the ball milling and gravity concentration process, machine-related accidents were noted such as cuts from the crusher. In the cyanide leaching which uses massive amounts of cyanide, the most prevalent hazards were heat, dust, and chemicals such as cyanide fumes. In the smelting process, smoke from burning ore and coal as well as exposure to borax and nitric acid fumes. Burn injuries were reported among miners. A third (31.2%) of miners have experienced accidents. The most common injury was laceration at 47.8%, followed by methane inhalation, fracture of hand digits, and contusion at 17.4%. The most prevalent health symptom reported by the miners was muscle pain. It is suggested that intervention programs for ergonomics and safety measures be implemented by the local government.
O1B.6 Maternal cumulative exposure to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields, prematurity and bith weight: a pooled analysis of two birth cohorts
Authors: Migault Lucile , Garlantezec Ronan , Piel Clément , Marchand-Martin Laetitia , Orazio Sébastien , Cheminat Marie , Zaros Cécile , Carles Camille , Cardis Elisabeth , Ancel Pierre-Yves , Charles Marie-Aline , Seze René de , Baldi Isabelle , Bouvier Ghislaine
Published: May 2020

Background

Data on the effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) on pregnancy outcomes are inconclusive.

Objectives

To study the relation between maternal cumulative exposure to ELF-EMF during pregnancy and the risk of prematurity or small for gestational age in a pooled analysis of two French birth cohorts.

Methods

Elfe and Epipage2 are both population-based birth cohorts initiated in 2011 and included 18 329 and 8400 births respectively. Health data and household, mother and child characteristics were obtained from medical records, by face-to-face interview at maternity, and completed during follow-up. A recently updated job-exposure-matrix (JEM) was used to assess cumulative exposure to ELF-EMF during three periods: 1) until 15, 2) until 28 and 3) until 32 weeks of gestation. Analyses were restricted to single live births in mainland France and to mothers with documented jobs (n=19,894). Differences in selection frame between the two cohorts were controlled using a propensity score weighting method. We used multiple imputation method to deal with missing data. Logistic regression models adjusted for the main potential confounders were used.

Results

According to the period studied, 3.2% to 4% of mothers were classified as highly exposed to ELF-EMF. An increased risk of spontaneous prematurity was observed among the most exposed groups in period 2 and period 3. Overall, no consistent association with small for gestational age was found.

Conclusion

This study, with substantial statistical power provides evidence of a possible association between cumulative exposure to ELF-EMF during pregnancy and the risk of spontaneous prematurity.
O1C.1 Key features of the new preamble to IARC monographs
Authors: Straif Kurt , Guyton KZ , Schubauer-Berigan MK , Hall AL , Grosse Yann , Wild CP ,   on behalf of the IARC Preamble AG and IARC Secretariat
Published: May 2020

Background

The Preamble to the IARC Monographs describes the objective and scope of the programme, general principles and procedures, and scientific review and evaluations. Since 1971, the Preamble has been updated periodically. In 2018 IARC convened an Advisory Group (AG) to Recommend an Update to the Preamble.

Methods

In advance of the meeting IARC engaged with Governing Council members, WHO and senior IARC staff. In order to take into account scientific input from all stakeholders in a comprehensive and transparent way, IARC solicited online submission of scientific comments and presentations at a scientific webinar. Starting in September, the Advisory Group began to discuss the public comments and draft updates to the Preamble, working in subgroups. The AG then participated in a 3 day meeting held on 12–14 November 2018 in Lyon, France.

Results

The updated Preamble confirms additional commitments to principles of scientific rigour, impartial evaluation, transparency, and consistency. Advancements in methods of systematic review provide a basis for enhancing transparency through more specific guidance to Working Group members. Specifically, reviews of exposure assessment quality will be integrated with human cancer studies and mechanistic data. The critical role of informed judgement by experts is an integral component of the Monograph evaluation process and reliance on standardized checklists would be counterproductive; the informativeness of each study will be explicitly considered in future Monographs. The key characteristics of carcinogens provide a framework for organizing mechanistic evidence and assessing its strength. The overall evaluation draws on the mechanistic, animal bioassay, and human evidence in a more integrated fashion. The AG recommended clarification regarding the distinction between Group 2A and Group 2B.

Conclusions

This new Preamble will enable IARC to take advantage of the scientific and procedural advances and strengthens the transparent method for the identification of carcinogenic hazards, the first step in cancer prevention.
O7D.4 Health inequalities among working population of latin america and the caribbean
Authors: Silva-Peñaherrera Michael , Lopez-Ruiz María , Merino-Salazar Pamela , Goméz-García Antonio , Benavides Fernando
Published: May 2020

Background

Working and employment conditions are weighty health determinants. Low-income countries are frequently exposed to occupational risks, employment agreements are poorly regulated and a high proportion of the working population are in the informal sector. Studies in Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) have been hampered by the lack of reliable data available.

Objective

To describe and compare the health inequality gap among workers of 20 countries of LAC.

Methods

Data have been taken from the last available Working Conditions Survey, National Health Surveys and from official records and national statistical institutes of each country. Three indicators were calculated to estimate health status of the working population (poor-self-perceived health, fatal and non-fatal injuries at work and general mortality within the working-age population), stratified by sex, age, level of study and occupation. Disparity was measured using Keppel index of disparity (ID) and Kuznets relative. Absolute and relative differences were calculated using the best health status country as reference category.

Results

Mortality among the working-age population was higher in men and varied from 87.4 deaths per 1000 inhabitants in Chile to over 182.2 in Bolivia. Keppel ID between countries was 0.5, indicating medium-high disparity. The prevalence of poor self-perceived health was higher in women and revealed a gradient by age, education level and occupation, in which young people in qualified non-manual occupations and high levels of study had lower prevalence. The ID was 0.7 between countries demonstrating high disparity and the range varied from 12.2 in Uruguay to 50.9 in Nicaragua.

Conclusions

This study reveals the existence of wide gaps in health among workers in LAC, both within and between countries. The limitations of cross-country comparative data should considered. However, this analysis increases our understanding of the causes of inequalities and provides evidence to establish better public policies.
O8A.2 Breast cancer and persistent night shift work starting at an early age that causes circadian disruption
Authors: Schwingl Pamela , Mehta Suril , Lunn Ruth
Published: May 2020

Over 10 million U.S. adults and ∼15%–20% worldwide work night shifts. Shift work, a complex exposure scenario, can cause circadian disruption (CD) and possible adverse health effects such as breast cancer. Although there have been a plethora of meta-analysis on shift work and breast cancer, these are not very informative because of inconsistent definition of shift work across studies.

The U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) conducted a systematic review (SR) to determine whether night shift work should be listed in the Report on Carcinogens (RoC). The SR included a review of cancer epidemiology studies and mechanistic studies of CD and cancer. NTP developed a protocol, based on scientific input gathered during a public workshop, which identified key issues for conducting the SR: definition of surrogates of night work related to CD, inclusion of multiple metrics of night work, information on early age at exposure when breast tissue is most susceptible, cancer subtypes, effect modifiers and confounders, and cohort truncation. Up to three reviewers evaluated the potential for bias and study sensitivity of each of the 26 cohort and case-control studies considered in the assessment, with five excluded due to exposure assessment concerns. To reach an overall conclusion, findings were integrated across studies, considering factors listed above and confidence in the evidence from each study.

11 of 13 most informative studies and 6 of 8 less informative night shift work studies found increased risks of breast cancer related to night shift work. Excess risks were found mainly among women working frequent nights for long durations starting at an early age (e.g., persistent night shift work). Mechanistic data provided evidence that night shift work causes CD, which plays a major role in its carcinogenicity.

In conclusion, NTP recommends that persistent night shift work that causes CD be listed in the RoC.
O8A.5 Total energy expenditure and risk of lymphoma subtypes: results from the european epilymph case-control study
Authors: Cocco Pierluigi
Published: May 2020

Introduction

Physical activity is known to convey protection against several cancers, but results on risk of lymphoma and its subtypes have been inconsistent. A possible reason might be confounding by workplace exposures associated with occupational energy expenditure, which was not considered in studies of recreational physical activity. It is also unclear whether energy expenditure acts directly, or through preventing obesity.

Objectives

To investigate the role of energy expenditure, including occupational and recreational physical activity, on risk of lymphoma subtypes.

Materials and methods

Based on questionnaire information on lifetime recreational physical activity and lifetime occupational history available for all participants to the multicenter EpiLymph case-control study, we estimated energy expenditure at work by occupational ISCO68 code, and we applied it to the work histories of study subjects. We also categorized hours of lifetime recreational physical activity into quartiles. We calculated risk of lymphoma subtypes with unconditional polytomous regression analysis, associated with increasing categories of lifetime energy expenditure at work (EEW), increasing categories of recreational physical activity (RPA), and their interaction term (total energy expenditure, TEE), adjusting by age, gender, education, body mass index (BMI), and history of farm work and solvents use.

Results

Risk of lymphoma overall, diffuse large B cell lymphoma and multiple myeloma was not associated with EEW, RPA and TEE. Risk of follicular lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia associated were elevated with medium and high EEW (OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.5–6.1; (OR 2.5 95% CI 1.2–5.1, respectively), but there was not a significant upward trend.

Conclusions

Further epidemiologic and mechanistic research is warranted to assess the role of physical activity in the etiology of lymphoma subtypes. New standardized energy expenditure assessment methods, as the ones herein developed, might contribute to a better understanding of the nature of the observed inconsistent findings.
O8B.3 Heat and injury in the workplace: perspectives from health and safety representatives
Authors: Varghese Blesson , Hansen Alana , Williams Susan , Bi Peng , Pisaniello Dino
Published: May 2020

Introduction

Hot weather poses occupational health and safety concerns for outdoor workers or those in non-cooled indoor environments. The risk of occupational injuries increases during hot weather, however limited understanding exists on underlying factors associated with this increase in risk. While recommendations and guidelines for preventing heat-related health impacts include hydration, cooling practices, adequate ventilation and rescheduling work, the extent to which these recommendations are adopted in workplaces is currently unknown.

Methods

A national online survey was conducted among health and safety representatives (HSRs) to better understand the nature of heat-related injuries. Responses relating to risk factors and preventive measures associated with reported injuries in workplaces were identified using log-poisson regression models.

Results

In total, 222 HSRs completed the survey. Overall, more than a third (43%) of HSRs reported that injuries or incidents caused by hot/very humid weather occur sometimes/often in their workplace.

Factors found to be positively associated with reported injuries included ‘the wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE)’, ‘inadequate resources and facilities’ and ‘new workers’.

For outdoor workers, the most frequently adopted preventive measures were provision of PPE, sunscreen and access to cool drinking water. HSRs reported more injuries if certain preventive measures (rescheduling work to cooler times and shaded rest/work areas) were adopted never/rarely/sometimes compared to often/always.

Access to cool drinking water and provision of PPE were the most frequently adopted preventive measures for indoor workers. For this group, HSRs reported more injuries if certain preventive measures (self-pacing, shielding of heat sources and adequate ventilation) were adopted never/rarely/sometimes.

Conclusion

Findings indicate that organisational issues, workplace hazards, personal factors and preventive measures, are all determinants of heat-related injuries in Australian workplaces. Wider adoption of prevention measures such as work rescheduling, self-pacing, provision of shade and adequate ventilation could reduce incidence of heat-related injuries in outdoor and indoor workplaces.
O8C.1 A probabilistic bias-analysis method for evaluating disease misclassification in a historical cohort mortality study of trichlorophenol workers
Authors: Scott Laura , Maldonado George
Published: May 2020

Occupational epidemiologists have long considered death certificate inaccuracies a critical issue when conducting historical cohort mortality (HCM) studies. However, the vast majority of these types of studies do not include a quantitative assessment of the impact of disease misclassification on study results. We developed a probabilistic bias-analysis method to evaluate the effect of disease misclassification using ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality data from a cohort study of New Zealand trichlorophenol workers exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). The sensitivity and specificity of IHD death certificate diagnoses in high income countries, as described in 14 peer-reviewed validation studies, were used to construct bias parameter distributions for nine simulation scenarios. We defined the parameter distributions for a non-differential disease misclassification scenario first, using a beta distribution for the sensitivity parameters and a maximum extreme distribution for the specificity parameters. To evaluate the potential effects of differential misclassification, we also varied the distribution peaks for the highest and lowest exposure categories. As before, a beta distribution was used for all the sensitivity parameters. However, both maximum and minimum extreme distributions were used for specificity parameters in these scenarios. For each scenario, the specified sensitivity and specificity distributions were sampled using Monte Carlo techniques. The inverse matrix of the sampled classification proportions was then multiplied by the vector of observed cell counts to generate a vector of cell counts adjusted for disease misclassification, which were used to calculate an adjusted odds ratio. When misclassification was differential, the geometric mean adjusted odds ratio ranged from 1.9 to 4.9 with study error resulting in bias both away from and toward the null. Under the assumption of non-differential misclassification, the geometric mean adjusted odds ratio was slightly smaller than the unadjusted estimate. Probabilistic bias analysis can be a useful tool for evaluating study error in historical cohort mortality studies.
O1C.4 Cancer incidence among lead-exposed workers in two countries
Authors: Steenland Kyle , Barry Vaughn , Antilla Ahti , Sallmen Markku , McElvenny Damien , Miller Will , Ritchie Peter , Straif Kurt
Published: May 2020

Introduction

Inorganic lead is considered a probable carcinogen by IARC (brain, lung, and stomach).

Methods

We conducted internal analyses via Cox regression of cancer incidence in two cohorts of lead-exposed workers with blood lead data (Finland, UK ), including almost 30 000 workers (20 752 in Finland and 9122 in the UK) and over 10 000 incident cancers. Our exposure metric was maximum annual blood lead (BL) test.

Results

The combined cohort had a median maximum blood lead of 29 ug/dl, a mean first year BL test of 1977, and was 87% male. Forty-seven percent had more than 1 BL test. Significant (p<0.05) positive trends, using the log of each worker’s maximum BL, were found for brain cancer (malignant and benign combined), Hodgkins’s lymphoma, lung cancer, and rectal cancer, while significant negative trends were found for colon cancer and melanoma. A borderline significant positive trend (0.05≤p≤0.10) was found for esophageal cancer. Significant interactions by country were found only for lung cancer, with Finland showing a strong positive trend and the UK showing only a modest trend. However, in general trends were marked in Finland and weak or inconsistent in the UK.

Conclusions

We found strong positive incidence trends with increasing blood lead level, for several outcomes in internal analysis. Two of these, lung and brain cancer, were a priori suspected sites. Two of these outcomes are associated with smoking (lung and esophageal cancer), for which we had no data; however, we had no a priori reason to believe smoking differed between workers with different BL levels.
O8D.8 Severity of carpal tunnel syndrome and manual work: findings from a case-control study
Authors: Mondelli Mauro , Curti Stefania , Farioli Andrea , Aretini Alessandro , Ginanneschi Federica , Greco Giuseppe , Argentino Antonio , Salce Caterina , Mattioli Stefano
Published: May 2020

Objective

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a socially relevant condition. This case-control study aims to investigate the association between CTS severity and manual work considering personal anthropometric risk factors as well.

Methods

We consecutively enrolled one CTS case for two controls (subjects without clinical and electrophysiological CTS signs) regardless of age and gender who were admitted to the same three outpatient electromyography labs.

CTS cases were grouped in three classes of progressive clinical and electrophysiological severity according to two validated five-stage scales. Anthropometric measures and occupational history were collected. Job titles were coded according to the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO 88) by two occupational physicians who were blind to case/control status. Job titles were grouped in two main occupational categories: manual workers and non-manual workers.

To assess the association between CTS severity and manual work, ordered logistic regression models (adjusted for age, sex, wrist-palm ratio and waist-stature ratio) were performed. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated.

Results

This case-control study enrolled 370 cases and 747 controls. After the exclusion of retired subjects, subjects older than 65 years and subjects with no information about occupational history, we included 183 cases and 445 controls in the main analysis.

For manual workers with respect to non-manual workers, the OR for the electrophysiological severity scale was 2.4 (95%CI 1.5–3.7). Regarding the clinical severity scale, the OR for manual workers compared to non-manual workers were 2.3 (95%CI 1.5–3.7).

Conclusion

This study confirms that manual work is an important risk factor for CTS. The association between manual work and CTS severity tends to increase from mild to severe stage of both electrophysiological and clinical scale.
P.1.16 Physical health of transitioned adf and regular adf members in 2015: findings from the transition and wellbeing research programme
Authors: Kelsall Helen , Hooff Miranda Van , Lawrence-Wood Ellie , McFarlane Alexander , Hodson Stephanie , Sadler Nicole , Benassi Helen , Hansen Craig , Sim Malcolm
Published: May 2020

Introduction

Military service can involve exposure to physical and psychological stressors. There has been little systematic research into the health and wellbeing of military personnel after they leave the services.

Methods

4326 Transitioned ADF (transitioned from regular Australian Defence Force service between Jan 2010–Dec 2014) (18% response) and 8480 Regular 2015 ADF (42%) completed a questionnaire including symptoms, doctor-diagnosed medical conditions, respiratory health, injuries, pain, sleep problems, lifestyle factors, self-perceived health and quality of life and health service use.

Results

Transitioned ADF reported a higher mean number of symptoms (16.4 vs 11.8), similar mean number of medical conditions (1.9 vs 1.5), were more likely to report some medical conditions (a circulatory, musculoskeletal/connective tissue or nervous system condition, high blood pressure, chronic low back pain, and hearing loss), a slightly higher mean number of service-related injury types (1.11 vs 0.96), and poorer self-perceived health and quality of life compared to 2015 Regular ADF. Service-related injuries were more likely to have been sustained during training than on deployment in both groups. The majority of Transitioned ADF and 2015 Regular ADF reported experiencing some pain intensity and disability.

In Transitioned ADF, poorer physical health outcomes overall were reported in Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) clients compared with non-DVA clients, in Ex-Serving compared with Active Reservists or Inactive Reservists, and in those who had been medically discharged compared with those discharged for other reasons.

Conclusion

This was one of the first studies internationally to investigate a comprehensive range of physical health indicators in recently transitioned military personnel. Overall Transitioned ADF were more likely to report poorer physical health across domains, some subgroups appeared particularly at risk. Findings in DVA clients were consistent with DVA being the conduit for care in veterans who have a service-related injury or mental health condition.
P.1.30 Assessment of sick building syndrome among employees in the commercial centers in Niš, serbia
Authors: Miladinovic Bojana , Nikolic Maja , Stankovic Aleksandra , Tasic Sci Visa
Published: May 2020

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) is a diseases associated with indoor air quality accompanied with various nonspecific symptoms that occur in the occupants of a building. This syndrome has been the subject of serious scientific investigation in the past years, but there are not enough studies in transition countries.

The aim of this study was to investigate the symptoms of the syndrome among employees in the commercial centers in Niš, Serbia.

Methods

The cross-sectional study was conducted amongst employees of two commercial centers in the city of Niš, Serbia. In this study the MM-040EA questionnaire was used with two additional questions and 1152 employed were interviewed during the period of three years. Data extracted from the questionnaires were analyzed using the chi-square test and binary logistic regression.

Results

The prevalence of SBS was high. The most common symptoms reported by employees included high room temperature (74.9%), stuffy air (73.5%), and dry air (75.7%), while rare complaints were towards static electricity (47.3%) and low room temperature (45.2%). Binary logistic regression showed that too low room temperature (p=0.002), dry air (p=0.015), static electricity (p=0.007) and noise (p=0. 024) were the most important factors for the high symptoms score. A relatively small number of sick absence (13.4%) was found among subjects working in the investigated commercial centers.

Conclusion

The high prevalence of SBS symptoms in the environment of commercial centers was almost associated with factors of unpleasant microclimate. So improvement of environmental conditions such as increasing the efficiency of the ventilation system, increasing fresh air flow in the sector and noise prevention , as well as enhancing the quality of working life will motivate the employees and increase productivity in the workplace. The occupational health care workers play an important role in educating of workers and their employers.
P.2.14 Pulmonary dysfunction in indium tin oxide exposed workers
Authors: Liou Saou-hsing , Hsu Yuan-Ting , Li Wei-Jin , Wu Wei-Te
Published: May 2020

Aim

To investigate the relationship between indium exposure and lung effects markers among indium tin oxide (ITO) manufacturing workers without job change.

Methods

We enrolled 179 male workers from ITO target manufacturing and recycling factories in Taiwan. Plasma indium (P-In), urine indium (U-In) and creatinine adjusted U-In (U-In/Creat.) were used as internal dose of indium exposure. Plasma Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) and surfactant protein D (SP-D) were used as markers of interstitial pneumonitis. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume at 1 st second (FEV1), and FEV1/FVC were also evaluated by spirometry.

Results

After adjusted for covariates by linear regression, plasma, urinary and creatinine adjusted indium were increased in high exposure group (P-In: β=1.13, p<0.001; U-In: β=0.54, p<0.05; U-In/Cre: β=0.63, p<0.01) and low exposure group (P-In: β=0.75, p<0.05; U-In/Cre: β=0.52, p<0.05) with comparison to reference group. Plasma KL-6 was higher in high exposure group (β=0.24, p<0.05) compared to reference group, but not for surfactant protein D (SP-D). Furthermore, FVC and FEV1 were reduced in both high exposure group (FVC: β=−0.08, p<0.01; FEV1: β=−0.05, p<0.05) and low exposure group (FVC: β=−0.06, p<0.05) compared to reference group.

Conclusion

Our findings indicate indium exposure was related to restrictive lung dysfunction, decreased lung function for both FEV1 and FVC test but not for FEV1/FVC ratio. Meanwhile, increased plasma KL-6 in high exposure group also supports that indium exposure results in increased risk of interstitial pneumonitis among direct indium exposure workers. Our study provided an explanation to the consequence of indium exposure- interstitial pneumonitis-restrictive lung dysfunction.
P.2.24 The effect of the exposure to work-related potentially traumatic events on occupational functioning (work limitations) among firefighters: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Park Ki Soo
Published: May 2020

Objective

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether firefighters’ exposure to work-related trauma events is related to work limitations that form part of social health.

Methods

In 2016, 618 firefighters from four cities in Gyeongsangnam-do participated in this study. They were analyzed using a health-related work limitations questionnaire, experience and type of work-related trauma, Korea Depression Scale, and the World Health Organization quality of life assessment instrument. The health-related work limitations consisted of three scales: ‘physical work demands,’ ‘psychosocial work demands,’ and ‘environmental work demands.’ The analysis was done by hierarchical logistic regression analysis.

Results

Of the subjects, 70.2% remembered traumatic experiences they had experienced during their job. The total work limitations were 21.5%; the limitation of physical work demands was 16.8%, that of psychosocial work demands was 15.5%, and that of environmental work demands was 13.8%. Logistic regression analysis of the final model 3 showed that, if firefighters have experience of their own risks and personal injury, physical (95% CI=1.169–9.405), psychosocial (95% CI=1.080–8.609), and environmental (95% CI=1.659–14.402), the total (95% CI=1.439–9.678) work limitation was significantly increased. When there was a memory of a terrible body or injury, the total work limitations increased significantly (95% CI=1.092–3.905).

Conclusions

When firefighters are exposed to trauma events during their jobs, these have a negative impact on their work. In order to protect and improve the occupational functions of firefighters, effective prevention and management of work-related trauma incidents should be considered.
O1D.4 Occupational exposure to formaldehyde in france in 2015
Authors: Delabre Laurène , Garras Loïc , Houot Marie , Pilorget Corinne
Published: May 2020

Context

Formaldehyde has been used in a large range of activities for decades. It was classified as human carcinogenic in 2004 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and in France, formaldehyde has been regulated as a carcinogen since 2007.

The aim of this work is to describe the occupational exposure to formaldehyde in France in 2015 and to identify the most exposed activities.

Method

A formaldehyde job-exposure matrix, developed under the MATGÉNÉ programme, provides an exhaustive and retrospective exposure assessment for all jobs in France. These data were linked with the 2015 French census, annually elaborated from 2013 to 2017, to estimate the occupational exposure prevalence by gender, occupation, industries and worker status.

Results

In 2015, 90 000 workers were occupationally exposed to formaldehyde (3.5‰ of the French population at work), 60 600 (4.6‰) among men and 29 400 (2.4‰) among women.

The industries with the highest prevalence exposure rate were for men veterinary area (8.8%), wood industries (7.7%) and agriculture (4.8%); for women, veterinary area (7.3%), fishing and aquaculture (5.3%) and agriculture (5.1%).

The exposed workers are retrieved in agriculture (26%), healthcare sectors (13,5%) and specialized construction work (12%) for employees and agriculture (69.6%), specialized construction work (13.5%) and other personal services (8.1%) for people with worker status different (mostly self-employed).

Conclusion

These results, the first describing the occupational exposure to formaldehyde in France, according to gender for the entire working population, show the importance of regulation in the variation of occupational exposure prevalence rates. This information will help in the surveillance of this occupational risk and to prioritize prevention actions.
P.2.33 The association between pattern of shift work and sleep quality amongst nurses in university hospital in northeastern region of thailand
Authors: Wangsan Kampanat , Chaiear Naesinee , Sawanyawisuth Kittisak , Krisorn Paanumas
Published: May 2020

Introduction

Shift work associated with many health problems, work performance and injury. Disturbance of sleep quality is the main mechanism of shift work effects. Nurses are at risk of many occupational hazards and also shift work. The information about shiftwork and the association of sleep quality amongst nurses of Thailand is still limit.

Objective

To study the association of shift work and quality of sleep and which pattern has highest risk of poor quality of sleep amongst nurses in university hospital in Northeastern region of Thailand.

Material and method

One thousand and one hundred nurses were met inclusion and exclusion criteria with 75.5%(n=831) participation rate. The data was collected via questionnaire including personal information, shift schedule, depression screening questionnaire, obstructive sleep apnea screening questionnaire and sleep quality questionnaire (PSQI). Cross-sectional analytical study was conducted.

Result

All patterns of shift work amongst sample were irregular shift work. There were statistically significant association between shift work and poor quality of sleep . Predominant backward shift pattern has higher association of poor quality of shiftwork than predominant forward shift pattern.

Conclusion

Even shift work associate with poor quality of sleep but good strategy of shift work scheduling help to decrease risk of poor quality of sleep.
P.2.37 Spanish firefighter’s 10-year follow-up study on cancer mortality
Authors: Zhao Guanlan , Regidor Enrique , Erazo Boris , Brocal Francisco , Ronda Elena
Published: May 2020

Introduction

Firefighters are exposed to different occupational risks in their work, some of which are carcinogenic. However, there has no studies on investigating the mortality of this group of workers in Spain. The objective of this study is to compare the mortality rate of all cancer sites in firefighters with the rest of employed workers.

Methods

Mortality was calculated from a longitudinal study between 2001–2011. A total of 9.5 million men aged from 20 to 64 years with employment in 2001 were followed. For all cancer sites, the standardized mortality rate (SMR) has been calculated by age per 1 00 000 person per year and the rate ratios (RT) have been estimated for firefighters versus the rest of employed workers with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).

Results

The overall mortality of cancer in firefighters is not statistically different from that observed in the rest of the employed workers (RT=1.00 (95% CI 0.89–1.12)). For most cancer sites, no significant differences were observed in the mortality rates between firefighters versus the rest of employed workers, the exceptions were cancers of the hypopharynx and larynx cancer, which had a higher magnitude in firefighters, whose mortality rate ratios were 2.96 (1.31–6. 69) and 1.77 (1.01–3.09), respectively.

Conclusion

Exposure to occupational risks factors may be responsible for excess mortality from hypopharyngeal and larynx cancer in firefighters. In the future, more research is needed on the health of firefighters and strengthening preventive policies for these workers.
P.3.06 Maritime fatalities due to acute illness in taiwanese fishing vessels, 2003–2015
Authors: Chen Ping Hui , Chen Pau-Chung
Published: May 2020

Introduction

Fishery is notorious for its high maritime fatalities. Apart from fatal accidents, acute illness without timely emergency medical care may be another important reason for maritime fatalities. However, compared with fatal accidents, maritime fatalities due to acute illness are much less discussed and investigated, and there is need for epidemiological evidence to support and develop preventive strategies.

Methods

In Taiwan, Fisheries Agency provided compensation for maritime fatalities, and recorded all enrolled crews in Fishery Administration Management Information System. Using these two databases, incidence rate and odds ratio (OR) were calculated to depict an overall picture of maritime fatalities due to acute illness and associated causal factors.

Results

From 2003 to 2015, there were 665 cases of maritime fatalities, whose mechanism were fatal accidents (562, 84.5%) and acute illness (103, 15.5%). Overall incidence rate of maritime fatalities due to acute illness was 0.67 per 10 000 man-labour year. The rates were 0.27, 0.70, and 2.58 per 10 000 man-labour year, and odds ratios were 1.0, 2.60 and 9.65, for coastal (<12 Nautical miles, Nm), inshore (12–200 Nm), and deep sea (>200 Nm) fisheries.

Conclusion

Our findings showed that one in seven maritime fatalities is due to acute illness in Taiwanese fishing vessels, and deep sea fisheries had the highest risk, followed by inshore and coastal fisheries, which may be explained by difference in accessibility to emergency medical care. This calls for intervention like regular health screening and occupational health service to prevent the occurrence of acute illness in advance, especially in deep sea fisheries.
P.3.14 Occupational hazards among migrant workers: impact on their fertility and mental health
Authors: Joshi Mandeep
Published: May 2020

Background

More than 1,750 Nepalis leave the country daily for foreign employment. A total of 6 39 167 aspirant migrant workers left for various countries in last fiscal year 2016/17, up from418,713 in previous FY 2015/16. Most the migrant worker destination is hot humid climate countries for occupational work especially chemical, biological hazards.

Methods

It is the retrospective study among return migrant male 100 case reports with non-migrant control reports in (2016 Jan–2018 Nov.) years. Data of Semen analysis reports(questionnaire for duration of infertility, sperm count, percentage of normal sperm morphology,percentages of sperm ), BMI, mini mental health examination and family details data was collected. Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and correlations were conducted using SPSS 21.0 and Epi info

Results

Most of the return migrant workers who had long term (>1 years) exposed with solvents, biological or chemical occupation have less than the normal sperm counts than non-migrant cases. BMI was normal but the mental stress on return migrant workers having more than others. Clinical findings of less than 20 million/mL sperm concentration, progressive motility 32%, Odds ratios (ORs), after allowing for confounding, were 2.07 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.24 to 3.44) for 1–3 years exposure to solvents and 3.83 (95% CI 1.37 to 10.65) for more than 3 years exposure. Chances of fertilization was at least 1–2 year among long term migrant return workers.

Conclusion

Occupational hazards in reproductive life is more seen among the mental stress workers. It may be due to improper use occupational safety clothes, equipment etc. Proper counselling, Workplace safety rules and regulation policy should be clearly documentation for all migrant workers. Occupation physician screen all workers health every 3 months. Education, awareness and changing attitude of work style is essential in this globalization era.
P.3.15 Suicide trends by occupation in south africa, 1997 to 2016
Authors: Kootbodien Tahira , Wilson Kerry , Tlotleng Nonhlanhla , Naicker Nisha
Published: May 2020

Background

The risk of suicide varies across occupations. However information is limited in South Africa. Surveillance data are vital to raise awareness of suicide risk for effective interventions in workplaces.

Method

To assess trends in suicide-related mortality by occupation, we analysed underlying cause of death data and occupation information from vital registration data from Statistics South Africa. Suicide (X60-X84) was coded using the 10th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Occupation groups were based on the South African Standard Classification of Occupations (SASCO) groups: (1) managers, (2) professionals, (3) technicians, (4) clerks, (5) service workers, (6) skilled agricultural and fishery workers, (7) craft and related trade workers, (8) plant and machine operators and (9) elementary occupations. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to calculate mortality odds ratios (MOR) for occupation groups in men and women, adjusting for age, year of death, education level, marital status and province of death.

Results

The 20 year study examined 7 113 episodes of suicide in South Africa of all persons of working age from 1997 to 2016. Deaths by suicide increased from 1997 (n=93, 0.05%) to 2016 (n=389, 0.15%, nptrend, p<0.001). Among men, the risk of suicide was highest in skilled agricultural and fishery workers (MOR=3.0, 95% CI 1.75–5.16). Among women, risk of suicide were highest in skilled agricultural and fishery workers (MOR=2.7, 95% CI 1.03–6.84) and clerical workers (MOR=2.40, 95% CI 1.29–4.46).

Conclusion

The results show that agricultural and fishery workers are at highest risk of suicide in men and women of working-age. There is a need for future studies to investigate explanations for the observed differences across occupations, particularly in people employed in lower skill-level groups.