Occupational and environmental medicine
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This study expands previous research comparing injury risk for women and men in a cohort of 24,000 US aluminium manufacturing workers in 15 facilities from 2001 to 2010. ⋯ To our knowledge, this is the largest single-firm study examining injury risk by sex with sufficient data to appropriately adjust for job. We show a consistently higher injury risk for women compared with men in the smelting and fabrication environments.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Hands4U: the effectiveness of a multifaceted implementation strategy on behaviour related to the prevention of hand eczema-a randomised controlled trial among healthcare workers.
To investigate the effects of a multifaceted implementation strategy on behaviour, behavioural determinants, knowledge and awareness of healthcare workers regarding the use of recommendations to prevent hand eczema. ⋯ The multifaceted implementation strategy can be used in healthcare settings to enhance the implementation of recommendations for the prevention of hand eczema.
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To assess the effects of long-term variations in ambient air pollutants on longitudinal changes in exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), a potentially useful biomarker of eosinophilic airway inflammation, based on data from the southern California Children's Health Study. ⋯ Changes in annual average exposure to current levels of ambient air pollutants are significantly associated with changes in FeNO levels in children, independent of short-term exposures and asthma status. Use of this biomarker in population-based epidemiological research has great potential for assessing the impact of changing real world mixtures of ambient air pollutants on children's respiratory health.
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Workplace and contextual factors that may affect risk for worker injury are not well described. This study used results from an employee job satisfaction survey to construct aggregate indicators of the work environment and estimate the relative contribution of those factors to injury rates in a manufacturing cohort. ⋯ We demonstrated utility of data from a human resources survey to construct indicators of the work environment. Our research suggests that aspects of the work environment, particularly work stress and unionisation, may have a significant effect on risk for occupational injury, emphasising the need for further multilevel studies. Our work would suggest monitoring of employee perceptions of job stress and the possible inclusion of stress management as a component of risk reduction programmes.
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To explore the psychological consequences of improvised explosive device (IED) exposure as IEDs have been the greatest threat to UK military personnel in Afghanistan though the mental health consequences of IED exposure are largely unknown. ⋯ In Afghanistan, a substantial proportion of personnel were exposed to exploding IEDs however, the majority of exposed personnel were psychologically healthy. Psychological effects were similar for combat personnel and those dealing specifically with the IED threat but both groups were at greater psychological risk than other deployed personnel.