Work : a journal of prevention, assessment, and rehabilitation
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This study aimed to investigate the 3-month prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms at the spine attributed to computer use and to identify biopsychosocial factors associated with the prevalence in undergraduate students. ⋯ Spinal symptoms are common among undergraduate students. Various factors were identified to be associated with high prevalence of spinal symptoms. Further research investigating the causal relation between these factors and musculoskeletal symptoms should be conducted.
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This study examined the rate of return to work, and to find demographic, clinical and functional factors associated with successful re-employment after in-patient rehabilitation. ⋯ This result re-affirmed the importance of functional status to the success of return-to-work in Singapore. Further qualitative studies might be useful in exploring the social or environmental factors affecting return-to-work outcomes.
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This study aims to describe how anesthesia teams handle unforeseen events that may affect the patients' health. More precisely, it investigates the mechanisms of decisions made by anesthesia teams to manage unthought-of situations, i.e. situations that have not been foreseen as "possible" ones before their occurrence. ⋯ They support the hypothesis of a collective cognitive trade-off, whereby teams would behave as virtual operators, with their own collective trade-off between "understanding" and "doing". The discussion of the results questions the assessment criteria, the safety perspectives we adopt and the possible ways to improve the management of unforeseen situations.
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Emergency department workers' perceptions of security officers' effectiveness during violent events.
The emergency department (ED) is among the most at-risk settings for violence by patients and visitors against ED workers. A first response to potential or actual events of workplace violence is often contacting hospital security officers for assistance. The purpose of this study is to describe ED workers' views of security officers' effectiveness during actual events of verbal and/or physical violence. ⋯ It is important that early communication between security officers and ED workers takes place before violent events occur. A uniform understanding of the roles and responsibilities of security officers should be clearly communicated to ED workers. Future research needs to be conducted with hospital-based security officers to describe their perceptions about their role in the prevention and management of workplace violence.
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This study was designed to empirically examine the effects of iPod device and text-messaging activities on driver distraction. Sixty participants were asked to perform a driving simulation task while searching for songs using an iPod device or text messaging. Driving errors as measured by lane deviations were recorded and analyzed as a function of the distracters. ⋯ Increased numbers of driving errors were recorded during the iPod and text-messaging phases than the pre- and post-allocation phases. Higher levels of Theta activity were also observed during the iPod and Text-messaging phase than the pre- and post-allocation phases. Implications for in-vehicle systems design, training, and safety are also discussed.