Work-health needs of high-altitude mountain guides (Sherpas) in Nepal – a pilot study

Weibo users and Academia's foci on tourism safety: Implications from institutional differences and digital divide

Tourism safety is essential for tourists and tourism practitioners. This study conducted a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer and CiteSpace for 2018 articles indexed on the Web of Science (WoS). It also analysed 7293 Weibo posts between 1977 and 2022 using Python, MYSQL, AI sentiment, and Tableau. The first tourism safety publication on WoS appeared in 1977, while the first Weibo microblog dated was dated back to 2011. Compared to the information posted on Weibo, the annual publications about tourism safety on WoS recorded a stable increment. On Web of Science (WoS), the academic staff and universities produced the largest number of tourism safety posts. On the flip side, the most productive organisations on Weibo are government agencies in popular tourism destinations. "Accident", "medical tourism", "environment", "mediating role", and "hospitality" were important burst nodes in tourism safety on WoS. "Quality", "accident", and health-related words were the foci on both Weibo and WoS. On Web of Science, the top 10 most popular keywords of tourism safety-related articles could be classified into two groups: health ("Covid-19", "restoration", "pandemics", "Sars-Cov-2", "Sars", "mental health") and IT terminologies ("big data", "artificial intelligence"). It has been concluded that "artificial intelligence (AI)" is more likely to be included in the keywords on tourism researched by academia. In contrast, the public may not know about or use AI in the tourism industry. Besides, the top 10 most popular keywords on Weibo related to tourism risks and hazards were drowning and traffic risks and hazards, such as drowning and traffic risks. The digital divide may explain such a difference: the academic circle benefits more from the digital age than laypersons. It may also be the result of institutional differences and information asymmetry.

Alterations to cardiac morphology and function among high-altitude workers: a retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES

Exposure to high altitude can affect human health, including the development of adverse cardiovascular effects. This study aimed to investigate alterations in cardiac morphology and function in high-altitude workers and to identify risk factors associated with cardiac abnormalities.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study was conducted with 286 Qinghai-Tibetan Railroad maintenance workers. Participant data were collected from company personnel records. Data on echocardiography and diagnosis of cardiac abnormalities were extracted from participants' medical records. Time-to-event analysis was used to investigate the risk of cardiac abnormalities among participants with different baseline characteristics and identify risk factors associated with cardiac abnormalities that developed as a result of working at high altitude.

RESULTS

A total of 173 participants had developed cardiac abnormalities during the follow-up period. The most common cardiac abnormality was right atrial enlargement, followed by left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and tricuspid regurgitation. Among participants with cardiac abnormalities, the median follow-up time was 17 months. Compared with participants who were younger than 20 years and working at altitude <4000 m, participants older at employment and working at extremely high altitude were more likely to develop cardiac abnormalities. Nearly 40% of the participants who worked at altitude <4000 m remained without cardiac abnormalities during the follow-up period.

CONCLUSIONS

Over 60% of participants developed cardiac abnormalities after working at high altitude, predominantly right heart enlargement and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. Age at employment and workplace altitude were significant risk factors for cardiac abnormalities. Enhanced regular physical examinations are recommended for high-altitude workers.

An Occupational Health Survey of British Mountain Guides Operating Internationally

INTRODUCTION

Professional mountain guides face significant occupational health risks, including injuries, accidents, environmental exposures, chronic musculoskeletal strain, and psychological stressors. This study aims to investigate these risks and their impact on the quality of life of a group of international British mountain guides.

METHODS

This self-reported online survey included demographics; acute and chronic occupational conditions; and questions on general health, lifestyle, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and quality of life based on the World Health Organization quality of life [WHOQOL-BREF] questionnaire.

RESULTS

Responses were received from 67 (32%) of the approached guides. Knee pain (75%), back and neck pain (62%), hand/upper extremity problems (51%), and lower limb injuries (49%) were the most commonly reported individual occupational health problems. Chronic eye problems were reported by 8%, and 5% reported skin cancer. Twenty-nine percent were on regular medications, which were mainly analgesics for chronic musculoskeletal complaints. Mountain guides have a healthy lifestyle, with lower rates of being overweight/obese, alcohol consumption, and smoking than the average UK population. Fourteen (61%) of the 23 guides responding to the PTSD questions reported experiencing life-threatening traumatic incidents, and 4 (25%) of this subgroup appear to have had some symptoms of PTSD. The quality of life assessment showed that the studied mountain guides have a high quality of life.

CONCLUSIONS

Musculoskeletal problems are the main occupational health problems experienced by the study group. New findings include a low but important prevalence of ultraviolet radiation-associated conditions. One in 3 guides have experienced significant psychological trauma, and one quarter of these had symptoms of PTSD.

Thrifty phenotype versus cold adaptation: trade-offs in upper limb proportions of Himalayan populations of Nepal

The multi-stress environment of high altitude has been associated with growth deficits in humans, particularly in zeugopod elements (forearm and lower leg). This is consistent with the thrifty phenotype hypothesis, which has been observed in Andeans, but has yet to be tested in other high-altitude populations. In Himalayan populations, other factors, such as cold stress, may shape limb proportions. The current study investigated whether relative upper limb proportions of Himalayan adults (n = 254) differ between highland and lowland populations, and whether cold adaptation or a thrifty phenotype mechanism may be acting here. Height, weight, humerus length, ulna length, hand length and hand width were measured using standard methods. Relative to height, total upper limb and ulna lengths were significantly shorter in highlanders compared with lowlanders in both sexes, while hand and humerus length were not. Hand width did not significantly differ between populations. These results support the thrifty phenotype hypothesis, as hand and humerus proportions are conserved at the expense of the ulna. The reduction in relative ulna length could be attributed to cold adaptation, but the lack of difference between populations in both hand length and width indicates that cold adaptation is not shaping hand proportions in this case.