Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, Occupational Health, Social Issues / 07.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tarani Chandola Professor of Medical Sociology Social Statistics Disciplinary Area of the School of Social Sciences University of Manchester MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We (the authors) were particularly interested in examining evidence for the common perception that people at the top of the occupational hierarchy are the most stressed. And also what happens to people’s stress levels when they retire. We had assumed that people with poorer quality work to have decreased levels of stress when they retired. There have been other studies on this topic before, but none that have used salivary cortisol to measure physiological stress responses. We analysed changes in people’s stress levels before and after retirement, in a follow up study of over 1,000 older workers in the British civil service. Stress levels were measured by taking salivary cortisol samples across the day, from awakening until bedtime. (more…)
Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Occupational Health / 05.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sandhya Manohar, MBBS, Nephrology Fellow Project mentor: Sandra M. Herrmann, MD Department of Nephrology and Hypertension Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In the last few decades advances in the field of industrialization and technology has turned our world into a 24-7 work zone. Many organizations have turned to a shift system to keep up with the demands of the new world. The consequent changes to our circadian rhythm have resulted in dramatic effects to our body’s physiology. Reports have been surfacing of higher rates of diabetes, obesity, and even cancer in this shift work population. The risk of hypertension though was controversial and so we set out to review this in our meta-analysis. (more…)
Addiction, Author Interviews, Lifestyle & Health, Occupational Health / 04.04.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jaana Halonen, Docent and Senior Researcher Finnish Institute of Occupational Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Retirement is a significant life transition when substantial changes in daily life are experienced as retirees adapt to life without work. After retirement people have more leisure time and more opportunities for different activities, and less stress. These changes are positive, but retirement can also lead to reduced social control and loss of social contacts and therefore be perceived as a stressful life transition. Both the positive and negative aspects related to changes in leisure time, stress, and social networks around retirement may affect drinking behaviours. However, little is known about how risky alcohol consumption changes around the retirement transition. Thus, in our study we wanted to examine how and for whom risky drinking changes around the time of retirement. To do that we followed up public sector workers with questionnaires before and after their old-age retirement. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Occupational Health / 27.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Dr. Regina Kunz Professorin für Versicherungsmedizin Evidence-based Insurance Medicine I Departement Klinische Forschung Universitätsspital Basel Basel Switzerland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Many workers seek wage replacement benefits due to a disabling illness or injury. Public and private insurance systems provide wage replacement benefits for such employees, as long as eligibility criteria are met. Insurers often arrange for evaluation of eligibility by medical professionals, but there are concerns regarding low quality evaluations and poor reliability between medical experts assessing the same claimant. In order to better understand this situation, we performed a systematic review of reproducibility studies on the inter-rater agreement in evaluation of disability. We carried out a systematic review of 23 studies, conducted between 1992-2016, from 12 countries in Europe, North America, Australia, the Middle East, and Northeast Asia. The studies include those carried out in an insurance setting, with medical experts assessing claimants for work disability benefits, and in a research setting, where evaluation of patients took place outside of actual assessments, for example, for rehabilitation. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Occupational Health, Orthopedics / 31.12.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kurt T. Hegmann, M.D., M.P.H. Director, Rocky Mtn. Center for Occupational and Environmental Health Chief, Division of Occupational and Environmental Health The University of Utah Health Care MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: This line of work for us began approximately 20 years ago. Normal tendons never rupture, as the weak point when loading the muscle-tendon unit is either the muscle-tendon junction (i.e., a true muscle strain) or bone-tendon junction. Researchers in the 1960s reported there is poor blood supply in the area of rotator cuff tendon tears, providing one of the two main etiological theories of rotator cuff tears. The other main theory is “impingement syndrome” or a biomechanical impingement in the shoulder joint. Though who experience this might find that they need something similar to this shoulder dislocation surgery. Naturally, both theories could co-exist. Next, we noted rotator cuff tendinitis and shoulder risks from tobacco in other studies. We also reported prior research of increased risks with obesity. These led us to the theory that these rotator cuff tears are likely vascular in etiology. The next problem was to show this. (more…)
Addiction, Author Interviews, Occupational Health / 04.11.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Barry Sample PhD Senior director, science and technology Quest Diagnostics Employer Solutions A business of Quest Diagnostics MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study of drug testing of the U.S. workforce? Response: As a leader in the drug testing industry, our primary goal at Quest Diagnostics Employer Solutions is to help employers maintain drug-free workplaces and combat the impacts of substance abuse such as higher absenteeism, increased risk of injury and lower productivity and performance. One way we support these efforts is to offer analysis and information from resources like the Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index™, which we publish as a public service for government, media, and industry. We’ve published the Drug Testing Index since 1988, which is also the year that Congress passed the Drug-Free Workplace Act. The Drug Testing Index examines positivity rates – the proportion of positive drug test results – among three major testing populations: federally-mandated, safety-sensitive workers; the general (private sector) U.S. workforce; and the combined U.S. workforce. Thresholds for positivity are determined by cutoff levels as established by the administrating authority; these cutoff levels determine the threshold for positivity for a specific substance. Should a metabolite appear at or above the level of the cutoff, a test is determined to be positive. Over the last few decades, testing policies have evolved to serve a dual purpose of protecting the health, safety, and welfare of both employees and the general public. That’s especially important in certain industries, such as transportation, where an impaired driver, pilot, or operator can create substantial public risk. The positivity rate in 1998, the year of the first Drug Testing Index, was 13.6 percent. Over the last 25 years, as we have tracked the overall positivity rate, we have noted other significant trends in the American workforce based on workplace drug tests. For example, our 2003 analysis revealed that amphetamine positivity had grown by 70 percent over the previous five years. The 2011 Drug Testing Index found that hydrocodone and oxycodone led U.S. general workforce positives. In both 2010 and 2011, the overall drug positivity rate was 3.5 percent, the lowest rate since we began publishing the Drug Testing Index. This year, we found positivity is at a ten-year high. What that tells us is that trends come and go, and that we cannot rely on assumptions about drug use. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Occupational Health / 12.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rasmus Rørth MD From Department of Cardiology Rigshospitalet University of Copenhagen, Denmark MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Heart failure is considered to be one of the most common, costly, disabling and deadly medical conditions and is thus a major health care problem. The ability to maintain a full-time job addresses a vital indirect consequence and cost of heart failure, beyond the usual clinical parameters such as mortality and hospitalization. Ability to work is more than just another measure of performance status. As well as its financial importance, employment is crucial for self-esteem and quality of life in patients with chronic illness. Obtaining information on labour force inclusion should, therefore, shed light on an unstudied consequence of heart failure and provide a novel perspective on the impact of heart failure on the lives of those who, perhaps, have most to lose from this condition. (more…)
Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, Hearing Loss, JAMA, Occupational Health / 22.07.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Harrison W. Lin, M.D. Assistant Professor Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery UC Irvine Medical Center Orange, CA 92868 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We reviewed the data from the Integrated Health Interview Series, which is a project funded by the National Institutes of Health to supplement the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), a household-based, personal interview survey administered by the US Census Bureau and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since 1957. The NHIS serves as the largest source of health information in the civilian population of the United States. Analyzing the available data on tinnitus symptoms from this survey, we found that approximately 1 in 10 Americans have chronic tinnitus. Moreover, durations of occupational and leisure time noise exposures correlated with rates of tinnitus – people who reported higher rates of loud noise exposures at work and recreationally more frequently reported chronic tinnitus. Finally, health care providers provided advice and treatment plans to patients with chronic tinnitus that were infrequently in line with the clinical practice guidelines published by the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery Foundation. (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, Exercise - Fitness, Occupational Health / 03.07.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alberto J. Caban-Martinez, DO, PhD MPH, CPH Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Environment & Public Health Associate Director, Miami Occupational Research Group Director, Musculoskeletal Disorders and Occupational Health Lab University of Miami MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Obesity remains one the largest public health burdens in the United States. Strategies that support healthy nutrition, physical activity and well-being are needed to achieve our national goals of Healthy People 2020. Opportunities for physical activity in the workplace are limited. As our U.S. economy moves from a blue-collar manufacturing enterprise to an increasingly service and information producing workforce, sedentary behavior at the worksite has unfortunately increased. Long work hours seated, short paths to printing or conference room meetings can be leading to increased overweight and obesity workforce trends documented in the U.S. population. Our University of Miami, occupational health and safety research team(www.CabanMartinezLAB.com) developed and evaluated a Walking Meeting (WaM) protocol for white-collar job site using input from thought leaders, key stakeholders, and the scientific and grey literature. We pilot tested the feasibility, acceptability and implementation of the WaM protocol in small group of white collar workers at a large university center. We found that converting just one seated meeting per week at work into a walking meeting increased the work-related physical activity levels of workers by 10 minutes. This increase in physical activity also supports the American Heart Association's recommendations of 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity for adults, or about 30 minutes each weekday. (more…)
Author Interviews, NEJM, Occupational Health, Opiods / 24.06.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Ellen Meara, PhD Professor The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Responding to a fourfold rise in death rates, between 2006 and 2012, states collectively enacted 81 laws restricting prescribing and dispensing of prescription opioids. Jill Horwitz, PhD, JD, said “states hoped passing a range of laws might help. So they are enacting small fixes — forbidding patients from “doctor-shopping,” and requiring doctors to use tamper-resistant prescription forms. They are also implementing major efforts such as prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) — online databases that allow law enforcement and clinicians to monitor prescriptions.” (more…)
Author Interviews, Circadian Rhythm, Endocrinology, Lifestyle & Health, Occupational Health, Sleep Disorders, Stroke / 02.06.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: David Earnest, Ph.D. Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Earnest: When body clocks are disrupted, as they are when people engage in shift work or go to bed and get up at radically different times every few days, more severe ischemic strokes can result. MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report? Dr. Earnest:  Whenever possible, go to bed and get up at the same time each day and keep regular mealtimes. If you do need to keep an irregular schedule, it is especially important to be mindful of stroke risk and try especially hard to eliminate other risk factors, such as hypertension and obesity. (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, Hearing Loss, Occupational Health / 06.05.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Elizabeth A. Masterson, PhD CPH Dr. Masterson is an epidemiologist in the NIOSH Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies CDC MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Masterson: Occupational hearing loss, primarily caused by high noise exposure, is the most common work-related illness in the United States. It is a permanent but entirely preventable condition. Researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, compared the prevalence of hearing impairment within nine industry sectors and the associated impact on quality of life for noise-exposed workers. Hearing impairment is hearing loss that impacts day-to-day activities. The Mining sector had the highest prevalence of workers with any hearing impairment, and with moderate or worse impairment, followed by the Construction and Manufacturing sectors. Impact on quality of life was measured by calculating disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). DALYs represented the number of healthy years lost because of hearing impairment. This study found that 2.5 healthy years were lost each year for every 1,000 noise-exposed U.S. workers because of hearing impairment. These lost years of good health were shared among the 13% of workers with hearing impairment (about 130 workers out of each 1,000 workers). Mining, Construction and Manufacturing workers lost more healthy years than workers in other industry sectors (3.5, 3.1 and 2.7 healthy years lost, respectively, each year for every 1,000 workers). Mild impairment accounted for 52% of all healthy years lost and moderate impairment accounted for 27%.  (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Occupational Health, Radiology / 20.04.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Maria Grazia Andreassi, PhD Director, Genetics Research Unit, CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology Pisa, Italy MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Over the last 20 years, advances in imaging technology have led to an explosive growth and performance of fluoroscopically-guided cardiovascular procedures, highly effective and often life-saving. However, these procedures requires substantial radiation exposure (e.g. the average effective radiation dose for a percutaneous coronary intervention or an ablation procedure is about 15 mSv, equal to 750 chest x-rays or ~6 years of background radiation) to patients and staff, especially interventional cardiologists and electrophysiologists. In fact, interventional cardiologists and electrophysiologists needs to operate near the patient and the radiation source and accumulate significant lifetime radiation exposure over a long career. The potential hazards of cumulative radiation exposure are the risk of cataract development and cancer induction. Anyway, there is now growing evidence in scientific community of an excess risk for other non-cancer disease even at moderate and low dose levels of ionizing radiation exposure, especially cardiovascular disease and cognitive effects. However, the characterization of health risks of accumulated low-dose radiation is incomplete and largely lacking. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to examine the prevalence of health problems among personnel staff working in interventional cardiology/cardiac electrophysiology and correlate them with the length of occupational radiation exposure. (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, Occupational Health, Toxin Research / 24.10.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Geoffrey M. Calvert MD Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health CDC Cincinnati, Ohio Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Calvert: Since 1987, acute occupational pesticide-related illness and injury has been one of the conditions under surveillance by NIOSH. NIOSH supports these surveillance activities by providing cooperative agreement funding and technical support to state health departments. The SENSOR-Pesticides program is also partially funded by EPA. A total of 12 states currently participate in the SENSOR-Pesticides program. With the 2015 publication of the Summary of Notifiable Non-Infectious Conditions and Disease Outbreaks – United States, official statistics for the occurrence of acute occupational pesticide-related illness and injury were published for the first time in the same volume of the MMWR with information on nationally notifiable infectious diseases. (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Occupational Health / 24.10.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Matthew S. Thiese, PhD, MSPH Assistant Professor Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health University of Utah School of Medicine Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Thiese: The nearly 3 million truck drivers in the United States face many challenges including a lack of physical activity, limited healthy food choices, work-related stress, high physical job demands of loading and unloading trucks and a high risk of being involved in crashes. The purpose of the study was to describe truck driver health and assess relationships between both personal and occupational factors and risk of being involved in a crash. This is why it is important to get yourself checked out by a doctor before carrying out any activity involving being on the road. Depending on your job, you can be driving for a long period of time and it is most likely that you'll become tired. A tired driver being a wheel is at a high risk of being involved in an accident. If you are soon to visit your local doctor for any problems you may have, it may be good to look into something like jj keller eld reviews to give you another way of staying safe on the roads and to help you prevent any accidents that could occur. The main thing for anyone to do before driving is checking they are physically fit to get behind the wheel. The next step though is to make sure that you can actually drive a truck. There are loads of places that you can training from, for example, you could just check out a website like MyCDLTraining.com to help you learn how to drive a truck. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Thiese: There were many personal and occupational factors that were significantly related to being involved in a crash. Among the personal factors assessed, drivers were more likely to be involved in a crash if they used a cell phone regularly, drank alcohol regularly, had a prior diagnosis of heart problems, reported snoring at night, had low back pain in the past year and if they had a high pulse pressure, which is the difference between the systolic and diastolic measures and is indicative of cardiovascular disease. Occupational factors related to being involved in a crash included how long subjects had been a commercial truck driver and how physically exhausted they felt after work; drivers reporting higher physical exhaustion were more likely to be involved in a crash. If you have been involved in a crash check out an Atlanta Truck Accident Lawyer. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Cancer Research, Occupational Health / 21.10.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:, David Richardson PhD Associate Professor Epidemiology Gillings School of Global Public Health UNC Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Richardson:  The International Nuclear Workers Study (INWORKS) combines three cohorts from France, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. INWORKS follows on from an earlier 15-Country Study but focuses on the three countries that provided the majority of the most informative data on early nuclear workers (1940’s onward). The use of data from just 3 countries, instead of 15, reduces the organisational requirements – and therefore financial burden – associated with the greater number of countries but the cohort selection (of the three main contributing countries) means that the power of the INWORKS study is not a concern. INWORKS uses information from the French, UK and US cohorts that has been updated since the 15-Country study was published. The overall purpose of the study is to improve the understanding of health risks associated with protracted, low-level exposure to ionising radiation. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, CDC, Occupational Health / 24.09.2015

Robert D. Daniels Ph.D Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Cincinnati, OhioMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Robert D. Daniels Ph.D Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Cincinnati, Ohio Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Daniels: In 2010, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) researchers, with funding assistance from the U.S. Fire Administration, launched a multi-year study to examine whether fire fighters have a higher risk of cancer and other causes of death due to job exposures. Our study was designed to address limitations of previous fire fighter cancer research. ? We included a significantly larger population. With more than 30,000 career fire fighters who served in Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco Fire Departments between 1950 and 2010, it is the largest study of United States fire fighters ever undertaken. In addition, both non-white and female fire fighters are represented. ? We looked not only at deaths from cancer, but also at the diagnosis of certain kinds of cancer, such as testicular and prostate cancer, which have higher survival rates. We also examined other causes of death to better understand the risk for various cancers and illnesses among fire fighters compared to the general public. ? We also examined the relation between cancer and several proxies of exposure, such as the number of fire runs, time spent at fires, and duration of employment of each firefighter (Dahm et al. 2015). The study was conducted in two parts. The first part was aimed to answer the question: “Is cancer associated with firefighting?” by comparing firefighter cancer risk to that of the general population. The second part focused on the question: “Are higher-exposed firefighters more at risk?” Findings from both parts have been published in the journal, Occupational and Environmental Medicine (Daniels et al. 2014, 2015). (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Hearing Loss, Heart Disease, Occupational Health / 20.09.2015

Wenqi Gan, MD, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health University of Kentucky College of Public Health Lexington, KY 40536MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Wenqi Gan, MD, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health University of Kentucky College of Public Health Lexington, KY 40536 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Wenqi Gan: In epidemiologic studies on health effects of noise exposure, community noise is typically assessed using noise prediction models, occupational noise is assessed using self-reports or historical records. These methods are able to estimate community noise exposure in residential areas and occupational noise exposure in the workplace; however, these methods are not able to accurately reflect actual personal noise exposure in the home and workplace. The lack of personal noise exposure information is a major limitation of previous studies, which could cause underestimations of the true health effects of noise exposure. Bilateral high-frequency hearing loss, an objective indicator for long-term exposure to loud noise, may be used to investigate health effects of noise exposure. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Wenqi Gan: This study includes 5223 people aged 20-69 years who participated in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2004. Compared with people with normal high-frequency hearing, people with bilateral high-frequency hearing loss were approximately two times more likely to have coronary heart disease. This association was particularly striking for people who were chronically exposed to loud noise in the workplace or leisure time. For example, for currently employed workers with occupational noise exposure history, the possibility of having coronary heart disease increased more than four times. This study confirms that chronic exposure to loud noise is associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease. (more…)
Author Interviews, CHEST, Occupational Health, Pulmonary Disease / 08.09.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Metin Akgun, MD, FCCP Department of Pulmonary Medicine Atatürk University, Faculty of Medicine Erzurum, Turkey Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Akgun: The first cases of silicosis due to denim sandblasting were reported in 2005. In 2007, we evaluated 145 former male denim sandblasters who had an exposure history to at least 1 month with a latency period at least ten months; 77 (53%) were diagnosed as silicosis according to the profusion category of opacities of 1/0 or greater. In this study, we reported 4-year follow-up results of this cohort. Out of 83 sandblasters who were evaluated in this follow-up study, nine died and of the remaining 74, 96% had radiographic evidence of silicosis based on the same criteria and 66% had pulmonary function loss, which was defined as at least 12% or more decrease on FVC, predicted. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Fertility, Nursing, Occupational Health / 08.08.2015

Dr. Audrey J Gaskins Department of Nutrition Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Boston, MAMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Audrey J Gaskins Department of Nutrition Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Boston, MA Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Gaskins: Previous studies have linked shift work, long working hours, and physical factors to an increased risk of menstrual cycle disturbances, spontaneous abortion, preterm birth, and low birth weight; however the association with fecundity is inconsistent. Several papers have also reviewed the occupational exposures of health care workers and concluded that reproductive health issues are a concern. Therefore we sought to determine the extent to which work schedules and physical factors were associated with fecundity in a large cohort of nurses. Women who work in an industry that requires them to work from a height or even lift heavy objects requires them to undertake training which guides them though the effective stages on how to work safely at heights. Without the right training, this sort of work can become very dangerous. Our main findings were that that working >40 hours per week and moving or lifting a heavy load >15 times per day (including repositioning or transferring patients) were associated with reduced fecundity in our cohort of female nurses planning pregnancy. However, all other factors such as frequency of night work, duration of rotating and non-rotating night shifts, and time spent walking or standing at work were not significantly associated with fecundity in this cohort. (more…)
Author Interviews, Memory, Occupational Health, Sleep Disorders / 14.07.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jonathan Cedernaes M.D., Ph.D. Department of Neuroscience Uppsala University SwedenJonathan Cedernaes M.D., Ph.D. Department of Neuroscience Uppsala University Sweden Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Cedernaes: Sleep is known to facilitate the formation of long-term memory in humans, by transferring newly learned memories from short-term to long-term memory stores. Studies however indicate that even shorter periods of sleep - including naps - can ensure access to different types of memories under normal restful conditions. Furthermore, while some studies have shown that acute sleep loss can exacerbate e.g. physiological responses to acute stress, it it has not been studied whether shortened sleep in combination with acute cognitive stress can have a negative impact on the retrieval of newly learned memories. With this background in mind, we conducted a study where we aimed to investigate how nocturnal sleep duration impacts this memory transfer, and to what extent long-term memories formed by sleep remain accessible after acute cognitive stress. We recruited 15 participants who in each of two sessions first underwent a learning session in the evening, during which they learned 15 card pair locations on a computer screen. Then, in one of the two experimental session, subjects slept for half a night (4-hr), instead being able to sleep for a full night (8-hr) in the other session. On the morning after each sleep condition, we had the subjects try to recall as many card pair locations as possible. We found that following half a night of sleep (4-hr), participants were equally able to recall memories for the learned card pair locations, as after a full night of sleep (8-hr). However, we also showed that the ability to retrieve memories following 30 minutes of acute stress, in the morning after these two sleep conditions, was different depending on whether the participants had slept for 8 or 4 hours. Following short sleep, the 30-min long stress exposure reduced the participants' ability to recall the card pair locations that the participants had learned the previous night by around 10%. In contrast, no such stress-induced memory impairment was observed when the same men were allowed to sleep for a full night. (more…)
Author Interviews, Lancet, Leukemia, Lymphoma, Occupational Health / 01.07.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Klervi Leuraud, Epidemiologist Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety Cedex, France MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Leuraud: INWORKS was performed to quantify the risk of cancer mortality associated to protracted low doses of ionizing radiation typical of occupational or environmental exposures, as well as of diagnostic medical exposures. While such risks are well known for acute exposures as those experienced by the Japanese survivors of the A-bombs, there is still a lack of information for exposures experienced by the workers and the public. Our study confirms the existence of an association between leukemia mortality and chronic exposure to low doses received by nuclear workers. (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, Mental Health Research, Occupational Health / 21.05.2015

Dr. Hope M. Tiesman MSPH, PhD CDC, AtlantaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Hope M. Tiesman MSPH, PhD CDC, Atlanta Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Tiesman: The authors regularly monitor non-occupational injury trends, including the recent and significant increase in suicide rates. This finding led the authors to consider how these non-occupational trends impacted the workplace. We used data for two large national surveillance systems.  We obtained data on workplace suicides from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Census of Fatal Occupational Injury (CFOI) which compiles data on all fatal work-related injuries in the US.  We obtained data on non-workplace suicides from the CDC's Web-Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System or WISQARS. WISQARS data are compiled using national death certificate data.  From here we calculated suicide rates and compared trends across workplace and non-workplace suicides as well as examined the socio-demographics and occupational characteristics of those who chose suicide in the workplace. Several important findings to highlight.  Across the 8-yr timeframe, we found that workplace suicide rates remained relatively stable, even somewhat decreasing that it is until 2007 when a large and significant jump in rates was found.  This was in contrast with non-workplace suicide rates which increased over the entire study period.  Men had signifıcantly higher workplace suicide rates compared to women and generally, as age increased, so did workplace suicide rates.  Those aged between 65 and 74 years had the highest suicide rate of all workers which was also a bit different from non-workplace suicide rates.  Finally, we found that those in protective service occupations, such as police and firefighters, had the highest workplace suicide rates, followed closely by those in farming/fishing/and forestry occupations.  These occupations have been associated with higher overall suicide rates in prior studies.  A somewhat novel finding was that those in automotive maintenance and repair occupations also had significantly higher workplace suicide rates. (more…)
Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, CDC, Nursing, Occupational Health / 28.04.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ahmed Gomaa, MD, ScD, MSPH Medical Officer / Surveillance Branch Division of Surveillance Hazard Evaluation and Health Studies National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Gomaa:  In 2013, one in five reported nonfatal occupational injuries occurred among workers in the health care and social assistance industry, the highest number of such injuries reported for all private industries. In 2011, U.S. health care personnel experienced seven times the national rate of musculoskeletal disorders compared with all other private sector workers. To reduce the number of preventable injuries among health care personnel, CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), with collaborating partners, created the Occupational Health Safety Network (OHSN) to collect detailed injury data to help target prevention efforts. OHSN, a free, voluntary surveillance system for health care facilities, enables prompt and secure tracking of occupational injuries by type, occupation, location, and risk factors. (more…)
Author Interviews, Occupational Health, Orthopedics / 06.04.2015

Thomas Karakolis Department of Kinesiology University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, CanadaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Thomas Karakolis Department of Kinesiology University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers have an injury rate approaching 1 in 4, depending on the study you look at. As an occupational injury rate, this number is extremely high. In fact, I think you would be hard pressed to find another industry where the injury rate is that high. One way that coaches and managers in MLB are trying to lower the injury rate is to restrict the total 'workload' on pitchers per season. Particularly in young pitchers, many MLB organizations restrict the number of innings a pitcher can pitch based upon the number of innings they pitched the previous year. Essentially, they are using innings pitched as a surrogate for workload. If this is an effective strategy, you would expect a correlation between the increase in number of innings pitched between successive seasons and future injury. Our study found that no such correlation exists. Innings pitched does not appear to be a sensitive enough measure to asses the true workload a pitcher experiences throughout the season. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Occupational Health, Toxin Research / 31.03.2015

Jorge E. Chavarro, M.D., Sc.D. Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Assistant Professor of Medicine Harvard Medical School Boston, MA 02113MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jorge E. Chavarro, M.D., Sc.D. Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Assistant Professor of Medicine Harvard Medical School Boston, MA 02113 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Chavarro: Previous studies have shown that occupational exposure to pesticides is harmful to sperm production. However, whether the same is true for pesticide residues in our food, the most important source of exposure to pesticides for most people, is unclear. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Chavarro: Bottom line, men who consumed the greatest amounts of fruits and vegetables with large amounts of pesticide residues had significantly lower sperm counts and fewer morphologically normal sperm. (more…)
Author Interviews, Occupational Health, Sexual Health, Stanford / 09.03.2015

Michael L. Eisenberg, M.D. Director, Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery Assistant Professor Department of Urology Stanford University School of MedicineMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael L. Eisenberg, M.D. Director, Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery Assistant Professor Department of Urology Stanford University School of Medicine Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Eisenberg: There has been growing data that a man's overall health may impact his fertility. As such, we wanted to explore this link using the NICHD LIFE Study which has the unique ability to account for both health and work exposure in men with both normal and abnormal fertility. We found that certain aspects of a man's work and health can impact his semen parameters. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Hand Washing, Occupational Health / 15.02.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Jill Stocks PhD, Research Fellow Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, Centre for Epidemiology; NIHR Greater Manchester Primary Care Patient Safety Translational Research Centre, Centre for Primary Care Institute of Population Health, University of Manchester, UK. Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Stocks: Reducing healthcare-associated infections has been a priority in the UK over recent decades; and this has been reflected in interventions and guidelines focussing on improving hygiene procedures. During 2004 to 2008 the Cleanyourhands campaign promoted hand hygiene in all NHS trusts. There was anecdotal evidence from dermatologists and occupational physicians that irritant contact dermatitis was on the increase in healthcare workers, and that it was caused by hand hygiene. We investigated whether or not there was an increase in the incidence of irritant contact dermatitis in healthcare workers due to hand hygiene or other types of hygiene coinciding with the interventions and guidelines promoting hygiene. We used reports made by dermatologists to the Occupational and Health reporting network, a voluntary surveillance scheme collecting reports of work-related ill-health. Trends in incidence of irritant contact dermatitis due to hygiene in healthcare workers were compared with trends in control groups (irritant contact dermatitis in workers with other jobs) using a quasi-experimental (interrupted time series) design. We found a 4.5 fold increase in irritant contact dermatitis due to hand hygiene and hygiene in general in healthcare workers between 1996 and 2012. The results also suggested a steepening of the increase in incidence during the rollout period of the Cleanyourhands campaign but the limitations of the data made this less clear cut. (more…)
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, Occupational Health / 10.02.2015

Prof.dr. Judith K. Sluiter Principal Investigator Manager KMKA: Kenniscentrum Medische Keuringen in Arbeid Nationaal secretaris voor ICOH (International Commission on Occupational Health) Coronel Instituut voor Arbeid en Gezondheid, Academisch Medisch Centrum / UvA Meibergdreef AmsterdamMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof.dr. Judith K. Sluiter Principal Investigator Manager KMKA: Kenniscentrum Medische Keuringen in Arbeid Nationaal secretaris voor ICOH (International Commission on Occupational Health) Coronel Instituut voor Arbeid en Gezondheid, Academisch Medisch Centrum / UvA Meibergdreef Amsterdam Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Prof. Sluiter: Professional footballers contain a group of employees working in a job with specific job demands. The occupational guidance and prevention of decreased work functioning of workers in these kinds of jobs should receive more attention. The mental health of professional footballers receive less attention compared to their physical health. We studied the prevalence of self-reported mental health problems and psychosocial difficulties in a group of current and former professional footballers, and we explored the association between having had psychosocial stressors and the health conditions under study. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Response: The response rate was 29% with available data from 253 footballers. In current players, the prevalence of mental health complaints ranged from 5% (burnout) to 26% (anxiety/depression). In former players, the prevalence ranged from 16% (burnout) to 39% (anxiety/depression). A small percentage of players had low self-esteem (3-5%). One quarter to two-fifth of the players showed adverse nutrition behaviour. Small but significant association between experiencing lower social support (OR=1.1) and having had recent life events (OR=1.4-1.6) and mental health complaints were found in current players. Having had severe injuries was associated with better nutrition behavior. In former players, having had life events showed a preventive effect on smoking (OR=0.4) and having had previous surgery was significantly associated with current smoking behavior (OR=1.9). (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, OBGYNE, Occupational Health / 06.02.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Barbara Grajewski, Ph.D., M.S., Epidemiologist Elizabeth Whelan, Ph.D., Branch Chief Christina Lawson, Ph.D., Epidemiologist Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Response: The study, published January 5 online ahead of print in the journal Epidemiology, looked at potential workplace reproductive hazards for flight attendants. While in flight, flight attendants are exposed to cosmic radiation from space and, periodically, can be exposed to radiation from solar particle events. Flight attendants can also experience circadian disruption (disruption to the body’s internal time clock) from traveling across time zones and from working during hours when they would normally be asleep. For this study, we analyzed 840 pregnancies among 673 female flight attendants and examined company records of 2 million single flights flown by these women. From these data, we estimated a marker of circadian disruption—working during normal sleeping hours—and exposure to cosmic and solar particle event radiation for each flight. This gives us a much more specific estimate of the exposures these workers face on the job every day. We also assessed the physical demands of the job, such as standing and walking for more than 8 hours a day and bending at the waist more than 25 times a day. Cosmic radiation and circadian disruption among flight attendants are linked very closely on many flights and are very difficult to look at separately when trying to understand what causes miscarriage. This is the first study that has attempted to separate these two exposures to determine which is potentially linked to miscarriage. This study is also an improvement over other studies in its assessment of cosmic radiation for each individual flight flown and from documentation of solar particle events. Earlier studies have looked at how many years a flight attendant has worked or other ways to estimate exposures that are not as specific. (more…)