A longitudinal study of work-related injuries: comparisons of health and work-related consequences between injured and uninjured aging United States adults

Assessing psychological distress of healthcare workers with and without work injuries: The role of job control

INTRODUCTION

The study investigates the relationship between work-related injuries, psychological distress, and the influence of perceived job control on healthcare workers, using Bakker and Demerouti's (2007) job demands-resources model as theoretical grounding.

METHOD

We analyzed data from 610 healthcare workers (81.1% female) at a northern UK hospital, incorporating both self-reported and organizationally recorded work injury incidents over the three years preceding the survey, along with measures of psychological distress and perceived job control.

RESULTS

Unexpectedly, we found that the occurrence of work-related injuries, irrespective of the method of reporting, is not related to lower psychological distress among those employees who report a high level of job control. This relationship holds even when adjusting for various demographic and occupational variables.

CONCLUSIONS AND PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Given the prevalence of work injuries in the healthcare sector, our findings suggest a need for a deeper exploration into how job characteristics might interact to offset the consequences of work injuries, challenging existing assumptions and opening new avenues for research into the psychology of workplace safety.

Physical activity and risk of workplace and commuting injuries: a cohort study

OBJECTIVE

Leisure-time physical activity (PA) has been hypothesized to reduce the likelihood of occupational injuries, but it is unclear whether this association varies between workplace and commuting injuries. The aim of this study was to examine the association between PA and risk of workplace and commuting injuries.

METHODS

Data were derived from the Finnish Public Sector study including 82 716 person-observations (48 116 participants). PA was requested repeatedly in four questionnaire surveys between 2000-2012. The average level of PA from two subsequent questionnaires was used to assess long-term PA. To obtain a 1-year incidence of injuries, participants were linked to occupational injury records from the national register. Logistic regression analysis with generalized estimating equations was used to examine the association between PA and injury risk. The analysis was adjusted for age, sex, education, work schedule, job demand, sleep difficulties, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and depression for workplace and commuting injuries, and workplace injuries were additionally adjusted for physical heaviness of an occupation and injury risk by occupation.

RESULTS

Higher level of PA was associated with a lower risk of workplace injuries compared to inactive participants [odds ratio (OR) 0.85, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.73-0.98]. This association was most marked in the ≥50-year-old age group (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.64-0.99). No association between the PA and the risk for commuting injuries was observed.

CONCLUSION

Higher PA is associated with lower risk of workplace injuries particularly among older employees.

Fatal work accidents in Ecuador from 2014 to 2020: How the age of the deceased worker relates to the accidents' temporal and geographical characteristics

This article analyzes the relationship between the age of male workers deceased in work accidents and temporal (year, month, day of the week, working shifts), geographic (provinces), and economic sector characteristics in which the accidents occurred in Ecuador between 2014 and 2020. Available data on fatal accidents from the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS) were collected. The results, which report both frequencies and proportions (rates), indicate that fatal accidents have decreased in the period, although the average age of deceased workers has increased. No significant differences were found regarding the month, day of the week, and work shift, nor in the frequency of accidents or the age of the deceased workers. However, differences were found in terms of geographical areas and sectors of economic activity. This study contributes to the literature as it is the first to analyze the temporal and geographical characteristics of fatal accidents about the age of the deceased worker.

The Value of Conducting a Longitudinal Study on Well-Being and Risk for Work-Related Musculoskeletal Injuries in Ultrasound Users

This article discusses the importance of conducting a longitudinal data collection concerning well-being and the risk for work-related musculoskeletal injuries (WRMSI) among sonographers and vascular technologists. There is a need for changes in the manner that sonographic work is done, but this should be nested in empirical evidence. This gives the rational for conducting the study titled Documenting the overall wellness of ultrasound users and the risk of progressive WRMSI: A national longitudinal study. The objective of this longitudinal work is to better understand collective practice patterns and examine the relationship of sonographic work conditions and performance to the user’s health and well-being. This symposium provides the foundational understanding of the strength of this type of study and how it may help to influence behavior and organizational change.

Effect of Joint Exposure to Psychosocial and Physical Work Factors on the Incidence of Workplace Injuries: Results From a Longitudinal Survey

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the interaction between physical and psychosocial work factors regarding the workplace injuries incidence among 6900 workers out of a longitudinal survey.

METHODS

Based on responses to questionnaires, we obtained exposure groups respectively for physical factors and for psychosocial factors using hierarchical clustering. We performed multiple Poisson regression model with the workplace injuries incidence during 4 years of follow-up as the outcome and the clusters as the independent variables of interest.

RESULTS

High psychosocial exposure had a deleterious effect on workplace injuries incidence, which was no longer significant when adjusting for physical factors. The difference in model-based workplace injuries rates between high and low psychosocial exposures seemed to increase (non-significantly) with increasing physical exposure.

CONCLUSIONS

The risk of workplace injuries was highest among workers with high physical exposures regardless of the psychosocial exposures.

The effect of theory-based educational intervention on correct principles of manual material handling among men

BACKGROUND

Changing human behavior for the purposes of improving the way people work is an integral part of most educational interventions. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a model based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) on correct principles of manual material handling (MMH) among male soldiers.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

This study was a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest research with a control group. Furthermore, 140 soldiers, from an area located in the city of Bandar Abbas, Iran, were selected through a simple random sampling and they were divided into two groups: intervention and control (70 subjects in each group). The data were collected using a three-part questionnaire including demographic information, the theory constructs, and MMH behavior. The intervention group was given the relevant education, and after 2 months, the both groups were evaluated.

RESULTS

Based on regression analysis, attitude toward behavior and perceived behavioral control were predictors for correct principles of MMH. There were significant differences between the mean scores of the theory constructs before and after the education in intervention group (P < 0.001); however, no significant differences were observed in the theory constructs in the control group after the intervention. Before the education, the mean score of MMH of the intervention group was 38.30 ± 6.45; but after, the education, this changed into 44.20 ± 6.01, and significantly increased (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Educational intervention based on the TPB was effective in improving behavior for correct MMH in soldiers. Thus, the use of such educational programs according to the constructs of the planned behavior theory is recommended.

Wholesale and retail trade sector occupational fatal and nonfatal injuries and illnesses from 2006 to 2016: Implications for intervention

BACKGROUND

We analyzed the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) fatal and nonfatal injuries and illness data on U.S. workers in the wholesale and retail trade (WRT) sector from 2006 to 2016. The purpose was to identify elevated fatal and nonfatal injury and illness rates in WRT subsectors.

METHODS

To assess the WRT health and economic burden, we retrieved multiple BLS data sets for fatal and nonfatal injury and illness data, affecting more than 20 million employees. We examined yearly changes in incidence rates for lost work-time across event and exposure categories.

RESULTS

In 2016, 553 100 injuries and illnesses and 461 fatalities occurred among WRT workers. WRT has a disproportionately 5% larger burden of nonfatal injuries for its size. From 2006 through 2016, wholesale sector fatality rates (4.9/100 000 FTE) exceeded private industry rates (3.8/100 000 FTE). The largest causal fatal factors were transportation in wholesale and violence in retail. Private industry and WRT experienced a decline in nonfatal injuries and illnesses. Wholesale subsectors with elevated nonfatal rates included durable and nondurable goods, recycling, motor parts, lumber, metal and mineral, grocery, and alcohol merchants. Retail subsectors with elevated rates included motor parts dealers, gasoline stations, nonstores, tire dealers, home and garden centers, supermarkets, meat markets, warehouse clubs, pet stores, and fuel dealers.

DISCUSSION

Through the identification of safety and health risks, researchers and safety practitioners will be able to develop interventions and focus future efforts in advancing the safety and health of WRT employees.

A meta-analysis of bariatric surgery-related outcomes in accredited versus unaccredited hospitals in the United States

The American Society for Bariatric Surgery established a set of standards for bariatric surgery Centers of Excellence accreditation programme in 2003. While several research efforts have shown that post-bariatric surgery outcomes were poorer in unaccredited as compared to accredited hospitals, others have questioned the same. This research effort sought to use random effects meta-analysis to quantitatively summarize the existing research efforts analysing this association, which were published between January 2000 and October 2018. Out of the total 559 articles, 13 that quantitatively analysed the effect of accreditation on post-operative mortality- and morbidity-related outcomes were included in the analysis. Overall, the weighted pooled estimates showed that compared to accredited, in the unaccredited hospitals, the odds of mortality were twice as high (odds ratio: 1.83; confidence interval: 1.49, 2.25), and those for morbidity were 1.23 times higher (1.11, 1.36). Estimates varied by the data source used, and the effect estimate used (odds or risk ratios). Overall, the odds of poor post-operative outcomes were higher among unaccredited hospitals as compared to accredited. However, there were analytic differences and other limitations among the existing efforts. Future research efforts conducting independent analyses on these data sources, keeping the methodology consistent are needed.

A marginal structural model approach to analyse work-related injuries: an example using data from the health and retirement study

BACKGROUND

Biases may exist in the limited longitudinal data focusing on work-related injuries among the ageing workforce. Standard statistical techniques may not provide valid estimates when the data are time-varying and when prior exposures and outcomes may influence future outcomes. This research effort uses marginal structural models (MSMs), a class of causal models rarely applied for injury epidemiology research to analyse work-related injuries.

METHODS

7212 working US adults aged ≥50 years, obtained from the Health and Retirement Study sample in the year 2004 formed the study cohort that was followed until 2014. The analyses compared estimates measuring the associations between physical work requirements and work-related injuries using MSMs and a traditional regression model. The weights used in the MSMs, besides accounting for time-varying exposures, also accounted for the recurrent nature of injuries.

RESULTS

The results were consistent with regard to directionality between the two models. However, the effect estimate was greater when the same data were analysed using MSMs, built without the restriction for complete case analyses.

CONCLUSIONS

MSMs can be particularly useful for observational data, especially with the inclusion of recurrent outcomes as these can be incorporated in the weights themselves.