Linguistic Validation of the US Spanish Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire, General Health Version

INTRODUCTION: There are no measures of health-related absenteeism and presenteeism validated for use in the large and increasing US Spanish-speaking population. Before using a Spanish translation of an available English-language questionnaire, the linguistic validity of the Spanish version must be established to ensure its conceptual equivalence to the original and its cultural appropriateness. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the linguistic validity of the US Spanish version of the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire, General Health Version (WPAI:GH). METHODS: A US Spanish translation of the US English WPAI:GH was created through a reiterative process of creating harmonized forward and back translations by independent translators. Spanish-speaking and English-speaking subjects residing in the US self-administered the WPAI:GH in their primary language and were subsequently debriefed by a bilingual (Spanish-English) interviewer. RESULTS: US Spanish subjects (N = 31) and English subjects (N = 35), stratified equally by educational level, with and without a high school degree participated in the study. The WPAI-GH item comprehension rate was 98.6% for Spanish and 99.6% for English. Response revision rates during debriefing were 1.6% for Spanish and 0.5% for English. Responses to hypothetical scenarios indicated that both language versions adequately differentiate sick time taken for health and non-health reasons and between absenteeism and presenteeism. CONCLUSION: Linguistic validity of the US Spanish translation of the WPAI:GH was established among a diverse US Spanish-speaking population, including those with minimal education.     

Sensitization to green coffee bean (GCB) and castor bean (CB) allergens among dock workers

Summary Dock workers (n = 218) occupationally exposed to green coffee beans (GCB) were studied, using a specific questionnaire for allergic symptoms and skin tests for common and occupational allergens. Thirty-one workers (14.3%) complained of allergic symptoms of the eye, nose and bronchial system at the workplace. The prick tests, using both commercial allergens and specific extracts prepared from the most common types of coffee and their corresponding sacks, confirmed a sensitization in 21 workers (9.6%). A positive skin reaction to castor beans (CB) was found in nearly all these cases; in ten workers there was also a positive reaction to GCB allergens and in 14 cases prick tests were positive to extracts of sacks. There was a good concordance between prick tests and specific IgE for CB (95.0%) and also, but to a lesser extent, for GCB. The authors concluded that there is a significant risk of sensitization to CB and GCB allergens in dock workers occupied in handling green coffee bean, despite the fact that the exposure is not continuous. CB emerged as a common contaminant of GCB from various countries. For effective prevention, a modification of the methods of transport is required to avoid CB contamination to other products. Eliminating environmental dust during shipping operations is the most important preventive measure and it can be achieved by the use of containers, as some exporting countries are already doing.     

Respiratory function and bronchial reactivity in mill workers

Professional exposure to vegetable dusts affect the respiratory function of the exposed subjects. A previous survey conducted in an industrial flour-mill demonstrated a higher frequency of respiratory symptoms in workers compared to a control group. Ten subjects employed in a work site particularly exposed to dust were studied. Each subject answered a questionnaire and performed on Mondays and Fridays, at the begenning and end of his work shift, a flow volume curve and an isocapnic hyperventilation test. The aerobiology of the professional environment was also measured. We noted: 1) in the flow volume curves: a drop in the FEV₁ during the Monday morning shift, a significant difference between the FEV₁ (p<0.05) and the MMEFR 25–75 (p<0.05) measured at 6 am on Monday and Friday, and between the MMEFR 25–75 values obtained at 12 noon on Monday and Friday (p<0.05). 2) after isocapnic hyperventilation, a significant drop in the MMEFR 25–75 at 6 am on Monday (p<0.01) and in the FEV₁ and MMEFR 25–75 at 12 noon on Mondays (p<0.05), a significant drop in the FEV₁ at 1 pm on Monday (p<0.01).     

性服务工作者性病和艾滋病的干预研究

目的 了解性工作者的性病/艾滋病知识、态度、信念、行为等现状,积极探索对该人群进行预防性病、艾滋病及行为干预的有效办法,为今后在更大范围的高危人群中进行干预提供科学依据.方法 成立专职高危干预队伍,设计借鉴其他地区经验,深入目标人群进行系列外展服务,利用干预前后封闭式调查问卷评价干预效果.结果 发放干预前后问卷各522份,收回前后有效问卷387份.通过外展服务,娱乐场所从业人员对性病史滋病预防知识知晓率明显提高,对安全套及安全性行为预防性病艾滋病的传播的信念和态度有明显转变.结论 对娱乐场所从业人群开展系列专业外展服务可以提高该人群的防病意识,提升对性病史滋痛的知晓率,是高危人群干预的有效方法.     

唐县针对暗娼艾滋病高危人群干预模式效果分析

目的通过对唐县干预实施过程的分析总结,探讨县级娱乐服务场所暗娼(CSW)的干预措施。方法收集整理唐县干预实施过程中的相关资料,总结干预的方法步骤,分析影响干预的相关因素,提出干预工作中遇到的问题和解决的方法对策。结果78.57%的高危场所接受干预,其中高、中档娱乐服务场所接受干预率为100%,低档场所接受干预率62.5%。CSW接受干预人数占96.66%。与基线调查统计结果相比,CSW艾滋病知识知晓率从60%上升到95%,其中高、中档场所CSW艾滋病知识知晓率为100%,低档场所CSW知晓率为82.5%;安全套使用率由50%上升到86%,其中高、中档场所CSW安全套使用率均为100%,低档场所CSW安全套使用率为53.1%。接受HIV初筛检测率为49.53%。培养了一支同伴教育宣传员队伍。结论“依据出租车司机线索,直接拜访老板,逐一走访高危场所,培养同伴教育宣传员,定期外展现场干预与定期集中培训交流相结合”的唐县CSW干预模式,启动、推动了唐县的干预工作,使干预工作能够循环、持续、深入进行,在高危人群CSW中宣传普及艾滋病防治知识、推广100%安全套使用技术、营造社会支持环境等方面起到了重要的作用,有效防止了当地艾滋病的传播。     

Workplace status and risk of hypertension among hourly and salaried aluminum manufacturing employees

An inverse relationship between workplace status and morbidity is well established; higher job status has been associated with reduced risks of heart disease, hypertension, and injury. Most research on job status, however, has focused on salaried populations, and it remains unclear whether job status operates similarly among hourly workers. Our objectives were to examine whether hourly status itself influences risk of hypertension after adjustment for socioeconomic confounders, and to explore the role of fine-scale job grade on hypertension incidence within hourly and salaried groups. We examined data for 14,999 aluminum manufacturing employees in 11 plants across the U.S., using logistic regression with adjustment for age, sex, race/ethnicity and other individual characteristics. Propensity score restriction was used to identify comparable groups of hourly and salaried employees, reducing confounding by sociodemographic characteristics. Job grade (coded 1 through 30, within hourly and salaried groups) was examined as a more refined measure of job status. Hourly status was associated with an increased risk of hypertension, after propensity restriction and adjustment for confounders. The observed effect of hourly status was stronger among women, although the propensity-restricted cohort was disproportionately male (96%). Among salaried workers, higher job grade was not consistently associated with decreased risk; among hourly employees, however, there was a significant trend, with higher job grades more protective against hypertension. Increasing the stringency of hypertension case criteria also increased the risk of severe or persistent hypertension for hourly employees.     

Respiratory health status in swine producers using respiratory protective devices

A cross-sectional survey on respiratory health in swine producers showed that 30% of 301 examined men usually used a dust mask when working inside a barn. They did not differ significantly from dust mask nonusers in respect to respiratory symptoms and lung function. This analysis was undertaken to determine whether the respiratory health of dust mask users was associated with reasons why they had started individual respiratory protection. The subjects were recontacted in order to identify those who started using a mask to deliberately prevent symptoms (42 men) and those who started protection because of pre-existing respiratory symptoms (44 men). Not unexpectedly, betweengroup comparisons of respiratory symptoms and lung function suggest that swine producers who wear dust masks for preventive purposes have better respiratory health than those who wear dust masks because of symptoms or those who do not use individual respiratory protection. The individual reasons for starting dust mask usage should be examined among potential determinants of the outcomes of prospective studies which can then provide more valid assessment of the effect of individual respiratory protection. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.