Although participatory workplace improvement programs are known to provide favorable
effects on high stress occupations like nursing, no studies have confirmed its effect
using biomarkers. The aim of this study was to determine whether a participatory workplace
improvement program would decrease stress-related symptoms as evaluated by biomarkers and
self-reported stress among hospital nurses. Three actions to alleviate job stress, which
were determined through focus group interviews and voting, were undertaken for two months.
A total of 31 female Japanese nurses underwent measurement of inflammatory markers,
autonomic nervous activity (ANA), and perceived job stress (PJS) at three-time points;
before the program (T1), within a week after the completion of the program (T2), and three
months after the program (T3). A series of inflammatory markers (Interferon-γ, Interleukin
(IL)-6, and IL-12/23p40) decreased significantly at T2, and IL-12/23p40 and IL-15
significantly decreased at T3 compared to T1, while ANA and PJS remained unchanged. Our
participatory program exerted beneficial effects in reducing inflammatory responses, but
not for ANA and PJS. Further investigations with a better study design, i.e., a randomized
controlled trial, and a larger sample size are warranted to determine what exerted
beneficial effects on inflammatory markers and why other outcomes remained unchanged.
BACKGROUND: Dementia is a general term for loss of memory, language, problem solving, and other thinking skills that can interfere with daily life. Dementia is generally experienced by the older people. Nearly 10 million new cases of dementia reported each year, and more than 50% of dementia patients live in low and middle-income countries. With these potentially increasing number of dementia cases, accurate knowledge about dementia is essential for the community as it could be beneficial for the quality of care and reducing its progression.
AIM: This study aimed to assess knowledge about dementia in the middle-aged age group and to determine the sociodemographic factors associated with knowledge about dementia in Indonesia.
METHODS: A cross-sectional survey targeted the middle-aged population (40–59 years old), using an online questionnaire examining sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, occupation), living arrangements, and the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale.
RESULTS: A total of 1147 respondents were examined, revealing that more than 67% of the participants had poor knowledge about dementia. We revealed that female gender, younger age, and higher occupational level were significantly associated with good knowledge about dementia in various subscales. Interestingly, the living arrangements showed no significant association with knowledge about dementia in any subscale.
CONCLUSION: The results emphasize the importance of intensive public health awareness to improve public knowledge about dementia in Indonesia, specifically targeting men and older individuals, as well as those with lower occupational levels.
Previously, we reported that the participatory workplace intervention was effective in reducing stress-related inflammatory markers among 31 Japanese female nurses.During the analysis, we recognized that our intervention might have increased prosocial behaviors like giving social support to others in some participants. Based on this assumption, we ran a secondary analysis, which examined the effect of giving social support on inflammatory markers, autonomic nervous activity (ANA), and perceived job stress (PJS) GIVING SOCIAL SUPPORT AT WORK AND INFLAMMATION 2 before and after the intervention. A group of participants who had increased scores on giving social support (n=13) showed significant decreases in interferon-γ, interleukin-6, and interleukin-12/23p40 after the intervention. Another group of those who had decreased/unchanged in the scores (n=17) did not show changes in these markers. Regarding ANA and PJS, no significant changes were observed in both groups. This study presented insight that giving social support at work may provide health benefits towards employees themselves, via decreasing inflammation.
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