The relation of objective work conditions (work underload, repetitive or varied work) and subjective monotony to job satisfaction, psychological distress, and sickness absence was examined in 1,278 male and female workers. Subjective monotony was moderately related to the objective work conditions. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that the effects on all outcomes were partially mediated by subjective monotony and were also directly related to repetitive work and work underload. Job satisfaction and psychological distress were mainly related to subjective monotony, whereas sickness absence was equally related to the work conditions and subjective monotony. The highest impact was observed for short-cycle repetitive work. Testing sex interactions revealed that sickness absence was related to the work conditions in women but not in men. The findings highlight the significance of noting the actual work conditions in predicting employee outcomes.

No abstract

This study was designed to evaluate the association of a single, integrated measure of simultaneous exposure to a number of adverse work and environmental conditions, termed the Ergonomic Stress Level (E-S-L), on workers' accident and sickness absence rates. The factors determining the E-S-L were body motion and posture, physical effort, active hazards and environmental stressors. E-S-L evaluation was based on 'walk-through' hazard inventories, direct observations, measurements and interviews. Workers were assigned to one of four stress levels ranging from low (A) to high (D). Subjects were 729 males, aged 20-67 years, employed in five factories in Israel. A linear relationship between E-S-L AND accident incidence was found, increasing from the lowest to the highest E-S-L. Moreover, workers more sensitive to environmental stressors, as indicated by their reported subjective annoyance, showed higher accident rates across all the ergonomic stress levels, a tendency which was statistically significant at levels C and D. On the other hand, sickness absence was significantly related to the overall subjective stress experienced, as manifested by reported job dissatisfaction and somatic complaints, and not directly to E-S-L. These findings highlight the role of aggregate work stress, coupled with individual sensitivity to environmental stressors, in increasing the risk of accidents.

Injuries caused by venomous snakes are considered a problem of public health in Brazil, and further studies for a better knowledge are very important. The aim of this work is to describe clinical and epidemiological characteristics that were observed from 1995 to 2000 in the Hospital for Tropical Diseases of Araguaína, Tocantins State, Brazil, which is a unit of health that takes care of patients suffering from tropical diseases. We studied 440 individuals and the most common characteristics observed were masculine sex, age among 15-45 years, bite in low members, and injuries caused by snakes of the Bothrops genus. The signs and symptoms more frequently observed were edema, pain, erythema, and bleeding. The most observed systemic manifestation was alteration of blood coagulation. The most frequent complications were abscess, necrosis, bacterial infection, and renal failure. The mortality rate was 3%. These data are very important for the evaluation of the problem

No abstract

The associations of ventricular premature beats detected on a one-hour ambulatory electrocardiogram with demographic, behavioral, physiologic, and anthropometric variables were examined in 2,331 factory workers aged 20-69 years. Ventricular premature beats were more prevalent with increasing age and with abnormal resting electrocardiograms. From the age of 40, they were more common among males than among females. An association with ethnicity was observed, ventricular premature beats being most common among Israelis of European origin. In univariate analysis, resting heart rate was inversely associated with the presence of ventricular premature beats for females only. Ambulatory heart rate was positively associated with ventricular premature beats only among males. No associations with smoking habits or relative weight were found. Among males and females with normal electrocardiograms, systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significant correlates of ventricular premature beats in univariate analysis and after controlling for age, resting and ambulatory heart rates, and ethnic origin.

No abstract

No abstract