Risk factors for absenteeism due to sick leave in the petroleum industry

OBJECTIVE

To identify risk factors for absenteeism among workers with sick leave in an oil company.

METHODS

A case-control study (120 cases and 656 controls) nested in a retrospective cohort study following up all employees of an oil company in the North-Northeast of Brazil from 2007 to 2009. The response variable used to represent absenteeism with sick leave was the average incidence of sick leave, defined as the ratio between total sick days and potential working days in the period. Logistic regression techniques were used to investigate the association between average incidence of sick leave > 5.0% over the period and the variables sex, position, age, time at work, shift work, smoking, arterial hypertension, body mass index, physical activity, coronary risk, sleep, glycemia, non-managed diabetes, cardiovascular, digestive, musculoskeletal, neurological and neoplastic diseases, straining body positioning during work, satisfaction at work, relationship with management, and concentrated attention at work.

RESULTS

Average incidence of sick leave higher than 5.0% in the cohort period was 15.5%. The logistic model revealed that workers with average incidence of sick leave higher than 5.0% were 2.6 times more likely to be female; 2.0 time more likely to be smokers; 1.8 time more likely to be former smokers; 2.2 times more likely to report abnormal sleep and 10.5 times more likely to report dissatisfaction with their than workers with average incidence of sick leave ≤ 5.0% in the period.

CONCLUSIONS

In this population, female gender, being a smoker or a former smoker, reporting dissatisfaction with the job and reporting abnormal sleep are good predictors of occupational absenteeism with sick leave.     

Applying Nightingale charts to evaluate the heterogeneity of biomedical waste in a Hospital

OBJECTIVES:

to evaluate the heterogeneity of biomedical waste (BW) using Nightingale charts.

METHOD:

cross-sectional study consisting of data collection on wastes (direct observation of receptacles, physical characterisation, and gravimetric composition), development of a Management Information System, and creation of statistical charts.

RESULTS:

the wastes with the greatest degree of heterogeneity are, in order, recyclable, infectious, and organic wastes; chemical waste had the most efficient segregation; Nightingale charts are useful for quick visualisation and systematisation of information on heterogeneity.

CONCLUSION:

the development of a management information system and the use of Nightingale charts allows for the identification and correction of errors in waste segregation, which increase health risks and contamination by infectious and chemical wastes and reduce the sale and profit from recyclables.     

Personal attitudes and misconceptions,not official recommendations guide occupational physicians’ vaccination decisions

Introduction

Healthcare personnel (HCP) are often under-vaccinated. The aim of this study was to evaluate occupational physicians’ potential role by assessing relations between their knowledge and attitudes regarding HCP vaccination and the extent to which official vaccination recommendations are communicated.

Methods

Cross-sectional survey, n = 135 occupational physicians.

Results

Occupational physicians who treat HCP recommend vaccinations more often to HCP when they have better knowledge of official vaccination recommendations and a more positive attitude towards vaccination compared to physicians with less such knowledge or a more negative attitude. The attitude towards vaccination most strongly affects whether occupational physicians recommend the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination: physicians with less positive attitudes recommend MMR to HCP in a more restricted way. A more positive attitude towards vaccination also relates to fewer misconceptions. Occupational physicians’ knowledge and attitude further influence the extent to which pregnant HCP receive vaccinations against influenza. Knowledge about official recommendations does not influence the recommendation of influenza vaccination for pregnant women.

Conclusions

Reasons for vaccination gaps in HCP might have their roots in occupational physicians’ incomplete knowledge of vaccination recommendations. Attitudes, which are related to misperceptions, also influence which vaccinations are recommended to HCP. Official recommendations, and not personal attitudes and misconceptions, should guide occupational vaccination behavior.     

职业延迟满足与工作满意度对军队医院护士离职意愿的影响

目的 调查军队医院护士职业延迟满足与工作满意度对离职意愿的影响.方法 应用护士一般资料调查表、职业延迟满足量表、工作满意度量表和离职倾向量表对93名军队医院在职护士进行问卷调查.结果 军队医院护士职业延迟满足、职业延迟满足特质、职业延迟满足过程为得分分别为（17.32±4.23）,（7.62±2.51）,（9.70±2.49）分,处于中等偏上水平;工作满意度总分、内在满意度、外在满意度得分分别为（72.02±10.96）,（41.53±7.15）,（30.48±4.41）分,处于低水平;离职意愿得分为（9.30±2.64）分,处于高水平.护士职业延迟满足与离职意愿呈负相关（r =-0.220,P＜0.05）,与工作满意度呈正相关（r=0.207,P＜0.05）,与外在满意度呈正相关（r=0.208,P＜0.05）;职业延迟满足能力与工作满意、内在满意度、外在满意度呈正相关（r分别为0.234,0.219,0.227;P＜0.05）;离职意愿与工作满意度、内在满意度、外在满意度呈负相关（r分别为-0.522,-0.490,-0.505;P＜0.01）.结论 军队医院护士职业延迟满足水平较高,工作满意度较低,离职意愿水平较高.军队医院护士职业延迟满足水平影响工作满意度及离职意愿.     

家庭作业治疗对阿尔茨海默病患者认知功能的影响研究

目的 构建基于作业治疗的家庭干预方案,探讨其对改善阿尔茨海默病患者的认知功能和生活质量的效果。方法 通过文献分析和专家会议法形成作业治疗方案。2021年4月—10月,选取某三级专科医院首次入院的68例老年精神科的阿尔茨海默病患者,按患者所在社区分组,梁溪区设为试验组,惠山区设为对照组,每组各34例。试验组在常规护理的基础上实施家庭作业治疗,包括线上沟通,线下家庭访视、护理门诊和社区集体活动等;对照组进行精神科常规护理。在干预前、干预后3、6个月,比较两组简易智能精神状态量表、改良Barthel指数量表、痴呆生活质量量表得分。结果 干预后3、6个月,试验组简易智能精神状态量表得分、改良Barthel指数量表得分、老年痴呆患者生活质量量表得分均高于干预前和对照组,差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）,试验组干预后3个月的依从性为64.52%,干预后6个月的依从性为90.32%。结论 实施家庭作业治疗能改善阿尔茨海默病患者的认知功能,提高其日常生活活动能力和生活质量。     

Comparison of methods for estimating the effect of salvage therapy in prostate cancer when treatment is given by indication

For patients who were previously treated for prostate cancer, salvage hormone therapy is frequently given when the longitudinal marker prostate‐specific antigen begins to rise during follow‐up. Because the treatment is given by indication, estimating the effect of the hormone therapy is challenging. In a previous paper we described two methods for estimating the treatment effect, called two‐stage and sequential stratification. The two‐stage method involved modeling the longitudinal and survival data. The sequential stratification method involves contrasts within matched sets of people, where each matched set includes people who did and did not receive hormone therapy. In this paper, we evaluate the properties of these two methods and compare and contrast them with the marginal structural model methodology. The marginal structural model methodology involves a weighted survival analysis, where the weights are derived from models for the time of hormone therapy. We highlight the different conditional and marginal interpretations of the quantities being estimated by the three methods. Using simulations that mimic the prostate cancer setting, we evaluate bias, efficiency, and accuracy of estimated standard errors and robustness to modeling assumptions. The results show differences between the methods in terms of the quantities being estimated and in efficiency. We also demonstrate how the results of a randomized trial of salvage hormone therapy are strongly influenced by the design of the study and discuss how the findings from using the three methodologies can be used to infer the results of a trial. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The consequences of proportional hazards based model selection

For testing the efficacy of a treatment in a clinical trial with survival data, the Cox proportional hazards (PH) model is the well‐accepted, conventional tool. When using this model, one typically proceeds by confirming that the required PH assumption holds true. If the PH assumption fails to hold, there are many options available, proposed as alternatives to the Cox PH model. An important question which arises is whether the potential bias introduced by this sequential model fitting procedure merits concern and, if so, what are effective mechanisms for correction. We investigate by means of simulation study and draw attention to the considerable drawbacks, with regard to power, of a simple resampling technique, the permutation adjustment, a natural recourse for addressing such challenges. We also consider a recently proposed two‐stage testing strategy (2008) for ameliorating these effects. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

某装甲部队职业性下腰痛官兵心理状态的分析

目的探讨在现代军事训练及作业条件下,患有职业性下腰痛官兵的心理健康状态。方法选取某部官兵正常组150人,下腰痛组120人,采用自编被试官兵基本情况调查表,症状自评量表,应对方式问卷,社会支持评定量表进行测试,并进行统计学t检验和方差分析。结果下腰痛组症状自评量表中躯体化、强迫、人际关系敏感及焦虑与正常对照组比较有显著性差异(t=2.144,2.050,2.130,3.342;P0.05);下腰痛组中主观支持、对支持的利用度、社会支持总分、自责及求助与正常对照组比较有显著性差异(t=3.093,2.614,2.932,1.953,2.454;P0.05);③不同的文化程度会影响客观支持、主观支持、社会支持总分、解决问题、自责、求助、幻想和退避,并且差异显著(F=4.15,5.84,5.13,5.02,4.98,4.01,7.25,3.12;P0.05);④不同的军龄会影响客观支持、对支持的利用度以及应对方式的各个因子,并且差异显著(F=3.24,3.02,5.13,8.24,5.36,10.88,9.67,3.87;P0.05)。结论下腰痛官兵的心理状态与应对方式,社会支持密切相关。     

Prospective controlled cohort study to evaluate changes of function,activity and participation in patients with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy after Robot-enhanced repetitive treadmill therapy

BackgroundRobot-enhanced therapies are increasingly being used to improve gross motor performance in patients with cerebral palsy.AimTo evaluate gross motor function, activity and participation in patients with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy (BS-CP) after Robot-enhanced repetitive treadmill therapy (ROBERT) in a prospective, controlled cohort study.MethodsParticipants trained for 30–60 min in each of 12 sessions within a three-week-period. Changes in Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM 66) scores, standardized walking distance, self-selected and maximum walking speed (ICF domain “Activity”), and Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM; “Participation”) were measured. Outcome measures were assessed three weeks in advance (V1), the day before (V2) as well as the day after, and 8 weeks after ROBERT (V3 + V4).Results18 patients with BS-CP participated; age 11.5 (mean, range: 5.0–21.8) years, body weight 36.4 (15.0–72.0) kg. GMFCS levels I–IV were: n = 4; 5; 8; 1. There was no significant difference comparing V1 and V2. GMFM 66 (total +2.5 points, Dimension D +3.8 and E +3.2) and COPM (Performance +2.1 points, Satisfaction +1.8 points) showed statistically significant improvements for V3 or V4 compared to V1 or V2 representing clinically meaningful effect sizes. Age, GMFCS level, and repeated ROBERT blocks correlated negatively with GMFM improvement, but not with COPM improvement.InterpretationFollowing ROBERT, this prospective controlled cohort study showed significant and clinically meaningful improvements of function in ICF domains of “activity” and “participation” in patients with BS-CP. Further assessment in a larger cohort is necessary to allow more specific definition of factors that influence responsiveness to ROBERT program.     

Elevated cleaved caspase-3 is associated with shortened overall survival in several cancer types

Emerging evidence has indicated that apoptotic cells have a compensatory effect on the proliferation of neighboring cells. Recent studies have shown that apoptotic tumor cells stimulate the repopulation of tumors from a small number of surviving cells by cleaved caspase-3 regulation and elevated tumor cleaved (and thus activated) caspase-3 expression levels predict worse treatment outcomes in cancer patients. The prognostic significance of cleaved caspase-3 should be demonstrated in more human cancer types and larger subjects. Here, we examined the cleaved caspase-3 expression in 367 human tumor samples (gastric cancer: 97 cases, ovarian cancer: 65 cases, cervical cancer: 104 cases; colorectal cancer: 101 cases) with immunohistochemistry (IHC) and the relationship between the expression of cleaved caspase-3 and various clinicopathological factors were also detected. We found that, cleaved caspase-3 was significantly associated with pathological risk factors (P < 0.005) for the studied cancers, such as tumor stage, lymph-node metastasis, differentiation and so on. In univariate and multivariate analysis, patients with high expression of cleaved caspase-3 had a significant shorter overall survival time compared with those with low cleaved caspase-3 expression in gastric cancer (P < 0.001), ovarian cancer (P < 0.001), cervical cancer (P = 0.002), colorectal cancer (P < 0.001) individually and in the patients combined (P < 0.001). Cox regression results suggested cleaved caspase-3 as an independent prognosis predictor for the studied four cancer types. Our study showed cleaved caspase-3 was well correlated to progression, aggressive behaviors in the studied cancer, and implicated it as a potential predictive factor for the prognosis of the four cancer types. It also indicated cleaved caspase-3 as a potential therapeutic target for cancer patients.