Journal of occupational and environmental medicine
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J. Occup. Environ. Med. · Feb 2010
How clean is "clean"? Regulations and standards for workplace clothing and personal protective equipment.
To compile current regulations and advisory recommendations on cleanliness of worker clothing and personal protective equipment and to evaluate the adequacy of criteria for determining whether cleanliness has been achieved. ⋯ There is need to harmonize cleanliness-related terminology, establish best practices for equipment cleaning and sterilization, implement a signage systems to provide equipment-specific cleaning instructions, and adopt objective criteria for determining what is "clean."
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J. Occup. Environ. Med. · Jan 2010
Employment and work impact of chronic migraine and episodic migraine.
To determine work impact of chronic migraine (CM) versus episodic migraine (EM). ⋯ The work impact of CM and high frequency EM will be underestimated if employment status is not measured.
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J. Occup. Environ. Med. · Jan 2010
Do fear-avoidance beliefs play a role on the association between low back pain and sickness absence? A prospective cohort study among female health care workers.
Health care workers have a high prevalence of sickness absence because of low back pain (LBP). This study examined whether fear-avoidance beliefs (FAB): 1) predicted sickness absence and 2) moderated the association between LBP and sickness absence among 1724 newly educated health care workers with LBP >or= day during the previous 12 months. ⋯ Furthermore, the results showed that health care workers with high degree of LBP would have more sickness absence days if they also had high FAB. To reduce sickness absence, education about pain management must be presumed to be beneficial.
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J. Occup. Environ. Med. · Nov 2009
The association between beliefs about low back pain and work presenteeism.
To examine the influence of beliefs about low back pain (LBP) on reduced productivity at work ("presenteeism") caused by LBP. ⋯ Negative beliefs about LBP are associated with both work absence and reduced work-productivity. Further investigations should examine their potential as a target for educational interventions when considering initiatives to reduce the socioeconomic costs of LBP.
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J. Occup. Environ. Med. · Oct 2009
Comparative StudyCorrelation between screening for obstructive sleep apnea using a portable device versus polysomnography testing in a commercial driving population.
To compare the accuracy of portable monitoring for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with polysomnography (PSG) in commercial drivers. ⋯ Although not perfect, portable monitoring may be useful in further stratifying risk in drivers who have a high probability of having OSA.