• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.95-103
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• 2022

Purpose: This study aims to identify general, workplace, and health-related characteristics of outdoor workers exposed to high temperatures, and to compare the risk of disease according to outdoor high temperature exposure. Methods: This secondary analysis study used the 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey (2017) to identify 4,915 outdoor workers exposed to high temperatures. Results: Outdoor workers exposed to high temperatures were mostly male, elderly, less educated, and daily contract workers. Most of them were engaged in agriculture, forestry and fishing, and construction industries. About 40~50% of them complained of musculoskeletal pain and overall fatigue. The results showed that high temperature exposure increased the risk of illness (hearing problem, skin problem, backache, muscular pains in upper and lower limbs, headache/eyestrain, injuries, depression, and overall fatigue) among workers. Conclusion: High temperature exposure might increase the risk of illness among workers. The results of this study demonstrated that the outdoor workers should be protected from high temperatures.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.19-30
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• 1983

This report is intended to find out the health status of the korean industrial workers based on the periodic physical examination in 1982. It has resulted in the followings: 1. As of April, 1982, total No. of industries was 81,136 of which workers was totally 3,383,700 persons classifying into 2,163,600 in male and 1,220,100 in female, and manufacturing field was occupied 44.6% of total industries and 61.0% of total workers. 2. In view of size, industries having less than 9 ordinary workers was 47.5%, those having less than 29 ordinary workers was 77.0%. 3. Applicable target industries to industrial safety & health law was 31,059 which was covered 38.3% of total establishments and No. of workers was 2,192,511, 64.8% of all industrial workers. 4. No. of establishment & workers conducting the physical examination was 26,463 which is 85.2% of all examining industries and was 2,007,091, 91.5% of all examining required workers. 5. Case having general disease by general physical examination was 3.5% of examining workers and especially it was appeared 9.7% in mining. 6. Case having general disease by special physical examination was 3.8% of examining workers and incidence rate for occupational disease was 2.4% of examining workers. 7. No. of the occupational diseased was 5,341 persons which is 2.6% of all the examining workers, 205,497 and its rate was appeared highly as 7.5% of silicosis in mining workers and 1.4% of hearing difficulty to noise in construction.

• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.25-36
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the status of oral health behaviors and oral health status, and to analysis the association between health behavior and chronic disease and oral health status of male workers. Methods: The survey used structured self administered questionnaires from September to October in 2009 in Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do province, randomize thirty workplace which work more than 50 workers and carry out a survey targeting 30 to 50 age male laborers who work selected workplace. Total of 1,532 replies were analysed. Results: Age, education, monthly income, job was significantly associated with number of toothbrushing, scaling experience, number of missing teeth. Smoking, amount of smoking, frequency of drinking, number of tooth brushing, unmet need and subjective oral health condition, HBP and DM was significantly associated with the number of missing teeth. In logistic regression, age(above 40), monthly income and DM were significant factors on loss of teeth. Conclusion: In conclusion, it is important to provide education on the teeth-brushing and DM management to workers engaged in a small or medium sized workplace with many tooth loss and low educational status, and to recommend a regular scaling as well as to establish policy for creating conditions upon an oral health check-up and a tooth scaling and allow the maintenance of an oral health.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.50-59
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among health behavior, wellness condition, and stage of change in health behavior by risk of cardiocerebrovascular diseases (CVD) in male office workers. Methods: A total of 205 male office workers participated in the 2017 National Health Examination at a manufacturing/ R&D business in Seongnam and completed self-reported questionnaires. Results: There were significant differences in health behavior scores by risk of CVD (F=4.78, p=.009) and statistically significant differences in no smoking (F=5.86, p=.003), exercise (F=5.49, p=.005), and health checkup (F=4.39, p=.014). There were statistically significant differences in health behavior (t=-4.14, p<.001) and wellness condition (t=-2.61, p=.010) by the stage of change in health behavior. Health behavior had a weak positive correlation with wellness condition (r=.36, p<.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that, when adjusted for age and employment period, the probability of becoming attention or risk group was 11% lower for quitting smoking (OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.81~0.97, p=.006) and 18% lower for regular exercise (OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.70~0.95, p=.009). Conclusion: The direction of health management at the workplace should be changed to promote the wellness of all workers, not the management of the disease, and a health promotion program should be continued to emphasize health behaviors such as smoking cessation and regular exercise.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.297-305
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• 2001

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of food behavior and life-style behavior on the health-status of male industrial workers in the Masan region. The average age of the 173 male subjects was 42.9 years and 59% of the subjects were labor workers, 25% office workers, and 70% of them earned 1 - 1.5 million won monthly. The subjects were categorized into one of three groups : normal group, health-concerned group, and disease-suspected group classified by the criteria of the data (blood pressure, blood glucose, blood hemoglobin, serum total cholesterol, and serum triglyceride) obtained from a health examination. Forty seven belonged to the normal group, 71 to the health-concerned group, and 55 to the disease-suspected group. The health-concerned group, and disease-suspected group had significantly higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure, blood glucose, and serum total cholesterol than the normal group, and the disease-suspected group showed a significantly higher serum triglyceride level than the normal and health-concerned groups. The disease-suspected group consumed carbohydrate foods, such as cereals more frequently and protein foods such as beans and eggs less frequently than the normal group and health-concerned group. However, there was no difference in nutrient intakes among the three groups. The disease-suspected group and health-concerned group smoked more cigarettes and drank more frequently than the normal group, and the disease-suspected group exercised less as compared to the normal group. The kinds of diseases diagnosed in the disease-suspected group were hypertension, hyperlipidemia, liver disease, and neurological disease. The results of this study indicate that nutrition education and monitoring should be implemented for industrial workers to prevent chronic diseases and to reduce medical cost for the treatment of disease.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.351-360
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• 2008

The principal objective of this study was to determine the importance of obesity management nutrition programs for obese male workers after performing a 10-week nutrition program and to compare changes in the obesity index, health behavior, meal intake, and blood constituents. The study subjects included 44 individuals, all without chronic disease. After the program, the weight, body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, and waist-hip ratio (WHR) of the subjects dropped. Dietary life behavior scores increased. In particular, more than 30% increases were detected in self-control of surfeit, control of eating speed, temperance, and regular exercise items. Total caloric intake and average drinking intake dropped. Though insignificant, systolic pressure, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and sGPT all dropped as compared to the levels measured prior to the program. Fasting blood sucrose, triglyceride, $\gamma$-GTP, and atherogenic index dropped significantly. HDL-cholesterol, though insignificant, increased. As the result of examining correlations between the subjects' health life behavior, caloric intake, and improvement in obesity, we noted a significant correlation between self-control of surfeit and temperance in the health life behavior item, along with significant correlations among total calorie intake, surfeit percentage, and daily average drinking intake. These results demonstrated that nutrition program for obese workers performed at the Community Health Center had the effect of reducing obesity, improving health behavior, and improving clinical levels. Thus, it is advisable that obesity management programs be achieved, linking the center of local societies' health promotion projects, community health centers, and workplaces, and various programs should be developed to maintain and continue changes in workers' behaviors, such that the positive effects of improvement in obesity could be maintained, even after the program.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.230-247
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• 2023

This study aimed to investigate the association between awareness of having a chronic disease with food habits and dietary quality among 320 male manufacturing workers in their 40s. Participants were categorized into groups. The first group comprised workers who were aware of having chronic diseases (ACD, n=160) and had been diagnosed with any one or more of the following major chronic diseases: Metabolic syndrome, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. The second group comprised those who had experienced none of the above diseases were classified as a group of people who were a ware of not having chronic diseases (ANCD, n=160). The mean age of the subjects was 44.2 years. The mean weight (P<0.001) and body mass index (BMI; P<0.01) were significantly higher in the ACD than in the ANCD group. The frequency of alcohol consumption and the number of current smokers were not significantly different between the two groups. Dietary attitudes were not significantly different between the two groups. The frequency of egg consumption was significantly higher in the ACD group (P<0.05). Picky eating, vegetable intake, checking nutrition labels, and healthy eating behavior were not significantly different between the two groups. The frequency of exercise was significantly lower in the ACD group compared to the ANCD group (P<0.05). The mean nutrition quotient (NQ) score was 51.9, with no significant difference between the two groups. Based on these results, the awareness of suffering from chronic diseases was not significantly related to dietary attitudes, food habits, and overall dietary quality among production workers. Therefore, there is a need to develop and implement nutrition education programs to inculcate an awareness of health status that can lead to dietary changes.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2011

Objectives: The purpose of this retrospective cohort study was to investigate the relationship between exposure of Korean workers to petrochemicals in the refinery/petrochemical industry and lymphohematopoietic cancers. Methods: The cohort consisted of 8,866 male workers who had worked from the 1960s to 2007 at one refinery and six petrochemical companies located in a refinery/petrochemical complex in Korea that produce benzene or use benzene as a raw material. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) and standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated for 1992-2007 and 1997-2005 based on the death rate and cancer incidence rate of the Korean male population according to job title (production, maintenance, laboratory, and office workers). Results: The overall mortality and most cause-specific mortalities were lower among these workers than those of the general Korean population. Increased SMRs were observed for leukemia (4/1.45; SMR 2.77, 95% CI: 0.75-7.09) and lymphohematopoietic cancers (5/2.51; SMR 2, 95% CI: 0.65-4.66) in production workers, and increased SIRs were also observed in leukemia (3/1.34; SIR 2.24, 95% CI: 0.46-6.54) and lymphohematopoietic cancers (5/3.39; SIR 1.47, 95% CI: 0.48-3.44) in production workers, but the results were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The results showed a potential relationship between leukemia and lymphohematopoietic cancers and exposure to benzene in refinery/petrochemical complex workers. This study yielded limited results due to a short observational period; therefore, a follow-up study must be performed to elucidate the relationship between petrochemical exposure and cancer rates.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.5-13
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• 1997

For the purpose of investigating the subjective symptom of industrial fatigue, a questionnaire survey was carried out on 282 labor workers and 189 managerial workers who were employed at the manufacture of electronic products in two small scale industries. Checklist of industrial fatigue was composed of physical symptoms(10 items), mental symptoms(10 items), and sensory neurotic symptoms(10 items). The results were as follows : 1. Complain rate of fatigue was the highest in "eye strain" of physical symptom, "feel anxious about things" of mental symptom, and "feel stiffness in the neck or the shoulders" of sensory neurotic symptom in labor workers and managerial workers. 2. Managerial workers demonstrated II dominant type (mental or night work type), while labor workers demonstrated I dominant type of fatigue (general type). 3. Mean weighted score of fatigue complaints in labor workers (23.16) was significantly higher than that in managerial workers (20.34). 4. Mean weighted scores of fatigue complaints in male, 5~9 years of work duration, married, 4~5 hours of sleeping time, graduation of high school and college, and large of workload were significantly higher in labor workers than in managerial workers. 5. In poor work condition with temperature, ventilation, illumination and noise, the average weighted score was significantly higher in labor workers than in managerial workers.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.295-298
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• 1984

The subjective symptom and other responded relations for 69 male workers handling organic solvent in xxx a pharmacy as exposure group and 87 male workers in noise workshop were studied and analyzied. It was concluded as follows. 1. The age of both exposure group and control group with the subjective symptom indicated a negative correlation. 2. Drinking and smoking of the exposure group complained of the subjective symptom shown the negative correlation and the control group also shown the positive correlation. 3. The occupational experience of the exposure group complained of the subjective symptom indicated the negative correlation and the control group also indicated the positive correlation.