Informatics Approaches for Recognition, Management, and Prevention of Occupational Respiratory Disease

Health effects of filtering facepiece respirators: Research and clinical implications of comfort, thermal, skin, psychologic, and workplace effects

Filtering facepiece respirators (FFR's) such as N95s have become widely used in appropriate settings for personal respiratory protection and are increasingly used beyond workplace settings. Concerns about possible adverse effects have appeared in many publications, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic led to much more widespread use. This paper synthesizes known effects based upon review of publications in PubMed since 1995, addressing effects other than pulmonary and cardiovascular (reviewed elsewhere). Findings: (1) Subjective discomfort is very frequently reported; this includes general discomfort or organ-system-specific complaints such as respiratory, headache, dermatologic, and heat. Research methods are widely divergent, and we propose a taxonomy to classify such studies by methodology, study population (subjects, experimental vs. observational methodology, comparator, specificity, and timeframe) to facilitate synthesis. (2) Objective measures of increased heat and humidity within the mask are well documented. (3) Frequency and characteristics of dermatologic effects have been insufficiently evaluated. (4) Physical mask designs are varied, making generalizations challenging. (5) More studies of impact on work performance and communication are needed. (6) Studies of effect of FFR design and accompanying training materials on ease and consistency of use are needed.

Occupational Contributions to Respiratory Health Disparities

Occupation is an important contributor to disparities in respiratory disease, affecting financial status, health-care access, and exposure to hazardous substances. Although occupation and associated exposures are included in the socioecological models, work exposures remain persistently absent from research on health inequities and their contribution to health. This article focuses on the occupational contribution to disparities in asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, silicosis, coronavirus disease 2019, and lung cancer. Because occupational exposures are largely preventable through proper workplace controls, the recognition of occupational causes of disease can provide an opportunity for interventions to bring about health equity.

Analysis of the research subjects and hot topics of occupational diseases through the Web of Science from 1975 to 2021

A variety of studies have been conducted in Occupational diseases (ODs) and this makes it difficult for researchers to identify new areas of study. Therefore, the present study was conducted by examining Web of Science data to identify hot topics and research topics on ODs. This is a scientometric study performed using CiteSpace and Gephi software for statistical analysis. The published article in Web of Sciences was searched using the keywords "Occupational disease^*" OR "Occupational illness^*" OR "Industrial disease^*" OR "Industrial illness^*". Finally, the countries and institutions and their cooperation, the most important and main topics discussed, and the path of future progress in ODs was analyzed. Preliminary results of the study show that out of 5,947 articles. The results of important journals showed that the American Journal of Industrial Medicine with 233 articles (6.02%), Oxford Occupational Medicine, and International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health with 86 (2.22%), and 83 (2.15%), respectively. The two producing countries are the United States and Germany, which published 628 and 419 articles, respectively. The results of hot topics showed occupational exposures, epidemiology, mental health, and respiratory diseases were the most important keywords used in these 45 years. It can be concluded that Germany, with its current development trend in the coming years, will surpass the United States based on the number of articles and gain the first rank. Also, future studies can be conducted on respiratory diseases as the most important ODs and health care work as the most important job during the past years.