Occupational and environmental medicine
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To assess the prevalence of general health status, use of sleep medication, and use of medication for cardiovascular diseases, and to study their relation to aircraft noise exposure. ⋯ Results suggest associations between community exposure to aircraft noise and the health indicators poor general health status, use of sleep medication, and use of medication for cardiovascular diseases.
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To identify the work factors that predict intense low back pain (LBP) and LBP related sick leaves in nurses' aides. ⋯ Not only frequent mechanical exposures, but also organisational, psychological, and social work factors, such as night shift work, perceived lack of support from superior, and perceived lack of a pleasant and relaxing or supporting and encouraging culture in the work unit, are associated with an increased risk of intense low back symptoms and LBP related sick leaves in nurses' aides.
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To explore the relation between safety climate (workers' perceptions regarding management's attitudes towards occupational safety and health) and workers' behaviour at work. ⋯ Safety climate measures workers' perception of organisational factors related to occupational health and safety (for example, management commitment to risk prevention or priorities of safety versus production). In this study these factors are strongly associated with workers' attitudes towards safety at work. Longitudinal studies can further clarify the relation between safety climate and workers' behaviour regarding occupational safety and health.
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To update the analysis of the cohort mortality and cancer incidence study of employees in the Australian petroleum industry. ⋯ Most cases of mesothelioma are probably related to past exposure to asbestos in refineries. The melanoma excess may be the result of early diagnosis. The excess bladder cancer has not been observed previously in this industry and is not readily explained. The divergence between cancer incidence and cancer mortality suggests that the "healthy worker effect" may be related to early reporting of curable cancers, leading to increased likelihood of cure and prolonged mean survival time.
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To compare environmental and biological monitoring of midwives for nitrous oxide in a delivery suite environment. ⋯ Greater engineering control measures are needed to reduce daily exposure to midwives to below the occupational exposure standard. Further investigation of the toxicokinetics of nitrous oxide is needed.