Some employees may have recourse to gambling, notably as an adaptive strategy. Although many studies have been performed on specific occupational groups (i.e. gambling industry, transportation or teaching), none have been conducted with workers followed-up by Occupational Health Services (OHS). Our aim was to evaluate the prevalence of problem gambling in an employed population and its links with work. We performed a cross-sectional study between November 2016 and April 2017, in an OHS in France. We evaluated the prevalence of gambling using the Lie or Bet questionnaire and the Canadian Problem Gambling Index. Among the 410 employees included, 138 (33.7%) had gambled in the previous year, 12 (2.9%) considered their gambling experience to be work-related, 13 (3.2%) were identified as problem gamblers. The influence of colleagues and the workplace hierarchy and ease of access to gambling (in tobacco shops, bars…) could be risk factors. Screening for gambling behavior could be offered by occupational health services, using the Lie or Bet, especially for employees exposed to readily available gambling opportunities at their workplace.
IntroductionTo date, very few studies about links between work and addictive disorders concern behavioural addictive disorders such as gambling. Such behaviours may be adaptative strategy for unsatisfied workers. The common physiopathology of addictive disorders allows us to hypothesise that it is possible that such troubles at work could promote gambling. Our aim was to evaluate the prevalence of gambling among workers and its links with work.Patients and MethodsWe performed a descriptive cross-sectional monocentric study among all workers who consulted one physician between November 2016 and April 2017, from an occupational health service in Brittany, France. The first step was to ask whether they have gambled during the last year and if it was related to their occupation. The second step was a screening for risky gamblers (using the ‘Lie or Bet’ questionnaire) among these and then to assess more precisely the severity (using the Indice Canadien du Jeu Excessif, ICJE questionnaire).ResultsAmong 410 workers who consulted the physician, 138 (33.7%) reported gambling during the past year and 12 (2.9%) considered themselves their gambling experience as related to work. 36 (8.8%) workers were screened as risky gamblers. Among these, the evaluation with the ICJE questionnaire reported 9 (2.2%) workers with no risk, 14 (3.4%) with a low risk, 13 (3.2%) with a moderate risk and no excessive gamblers.DiscussionAddictive disorders at work are often reduced to the question of substance use disorders, focusing on security aspects. But vulnerability factors are similar to behavioural addictive disorders, including psychosocial risk factors at work. Moreover problem gambling can easily be hidden in a social and professional life. As problem gambling has social repercussions and could be related to work, it should be a topic of interest for occupational health practitioners.
Occupational exposure to certain substances would cause cancer. Herein, we report on a case of a 58-year-old former orthoprostethist who died from a lung adenocarcinoma. He had a 3 pack-year history of smoking and a single exposure to asbestos during his professional career. Between 1979 and 2010, he used vermiculite plaques daily to build medical prostheses, using no personal protective equipment. Contamination of vermiculite with amphibole asbestos has been described in Libby, Montana. Expert opinion on this case has raised the hypothesis of the use of this kind of vermiculite during this period and the occupational etiology of this cancer. It seems important to point out the possibility of vermiculite-related lung cancers in unusual occupations in order to better document such cases in the future.
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