• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.30 no.2 s.57
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• pp.381-391
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• 1997

In an epidemiological study of metal workers exposed to metalworking fluids (MWF), the prevalence time of Evolution, seasonal occurrence and clinical type of contact dermatitis were investigated. Compostional analysis of MWF with HPLC, dermatological examination and two consecutive questionnaire surveys were conducted. Study population was divided into two groups ; workers contact to cutting oil and workers contact to rust preventive oil. In the analysis of MWF, aliphatic hydrocarbons, having 12-20 carbons, was most common composition(49.04%) of cutting oil otherwise, major contents (90.99%) of the rust preventives oil were aliphatic hydrocarbons composed of 6-9 carbons. The frequency (point prevalence) of contact dermatitis(CD) was 7(12.7 per 100 subjects) in the dermatological examination of 55 workers. As the result of second survey for contact dermatitis, cumulative prevalence of oil working full-time and recent 1 year prevalence in two groups were 28.0, 16.7 and 15.1, 12.5 per 100 subjects. There were no difference in the prevalence of CD by oil, age, oil contact duration. Summer is the most common evolution season in workers exposed to cutting oil, but not in workers exposed to rust preventive oil. Major clinical type of CD was erythematous papules in both groups. It presents the importance of preventive measures that 51.1% suffer from contact dermatitis had medical care at their own expense, and 47.1% of them felt serious about their contact dermatitis. From the fact that 68.6% think cotton gloves protective apparatus, we emphasize the need for health education.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.1-24
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to find the factors affecting the bum out syndrome and its degree in terms of personal, organizational and clients characteristics, and then to find the ways to reduce or eliminate those factors. The 228 doctors and the nurses who worked at the emergency departments in 6 general hospitals with more than 700 beds in Seoul were surveyed from April 15, 2002 for 15 days. A structured self-recording questionnaire was used; the t-test and ANOVA was used to analyse the median difference between the occupation, and multiple regression was employed to find the factors affecting the bum-out syndrome. The summary of this research analysis is as follows : First, of several variables, the highest frequency of the burn-out was the emotional burn-out followed by lack in personal touch toward the patients, decrease in sense of personal achievement. These results indicate that the doctors and nurses in emergency departments experience higher degree of burn-out than the social workers and the nurses who work at other departments in heath care environment as other studies revealed. Second, the analysis of the total burn-out factors showed the lower self respect, younger age, heavier work load, higher dissatisfaction rate toward remuneration and not-so-smooth relationship with the patients and their relatives the higher burn out rate. These variables explained 54% of the total variables. Third, the nurses experienced more burn-out syndrome than the doctors. The degree of self-respect, work pattern, relationship with the clients, age and remuneration were the causes of the burn-out. The doctors recorded lack in personal touch toward the patients more, while the nurses more to emotional exhaustion. The limitations of this research are the subjective answers of the respondents to certain questions and differences in sample numbers of each hospital in which some reservation can be exercised in explaining statistical significance of the data, and generalizing the conclusion. Despite of its limitation, this research has its own merit as an unpreceded research in this field, and provision of the basic materials to prevent and find causes of the burn-out syndrome among the doctors and nurses in the emergency departments.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.163-169
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• 2022

Background: It is estimated that about 13 million artisanal and small-scale miners carry out their activities under harsh, precarious, unfriendly, and risky conditions. Yet, our understanding of the extent to which these workers use personal protective equipment (PPE) and navigate through the various risks and hazards they face is still limited. This article has two main objectives. First, it explores the extent of usage of PPE among artisanal and small-scale miners for the prevention of hazards and risks. Second, it examines the coping strategies used by these miners as a response to experiences of occupational injuries and risks Methods: A cross-sectional survey of small-scale miners was conducted in six communities across three districts in Ghana, West Africa. The mixed methods approach was adopted. A total of 148 small-scale miners participated in the study. Six focus group discussions (FGDs) were held across the six communities. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Chi-square tests were used to analyse the relationship between some socio-demographic characteristics (sex, age, and educational background) and the usage of PPE. Open-ended questions and responses from FGDs were analysed based on the content and verbatim quotations from miners. Results: Findings suggest that 78% of the miners interviewed do not use the appropriate PPE citing reasons such as cost, and their personal discomfort associated with use of PPE. There was no significant relationship between socio-demographic characteristics (i.e., sex, age, education and major mining activity) and the usage of PPE. The study further revealed four main coping strategies used by miners to handle the risks. These are rest, taking unprescribed medication and hard drugs, registration with health insurance scheme and savings and investments. Conclusion: This study shows that very few artisanal miners use PPE despite the significant hazards and risks to which they are exposed. The study recommends to the government to put in place measures to ensure that miners adhere to health and safety regulations before undertaking mining activities. This means that health and safety plans and use of PPE should be linked to the license acquisition process for miners.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.25-29
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• 1984

To assess the effect of noise on the blood pressure of workers, 70 weaving and 70 refining female workers in 15 to 24 years of ages were tested for the changes of blood pressure before and after exposure to the noise. The noise levels at work place were 99 dB (A) for weavers and 80 dB(A) for refiners. The mean age of refiners was 17,7 years and that of weavers was 18.6 years, and the difference in mean ages was statistically significant (p<0.05). The means of heights, weights and working durations were not significantly different between two groups. The mean systolic blood pressure of the weavers was 112.5mmHg before exposure to the noise and it was increased to 115.7mmHg after exposure to 99 dB(A) of noise for 30 minutes, and the mean diastolic blood pressure from 71.6mmHg to 74.1mmHg. These increments of blood pressure were statististically significant (p<0.05). The mean systolic blood pressure of the refiners was decreased from 108.9mmHg to 106.7mmHg after exposure to 80 dB(A) of noise for 30 minutes, and the mean diastolic blood pressure from 67.3mmHg to 67.1mmHg. These changes of blood pressure were not statistically significant. The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure of the weavers before exposure to the noise were significantly higher than that of refiners (p<0.05). The difference of blood pressure between refiners and weavers was significantly associated with noises (p<0.05), and not ages and their interactions. The study results support the hypothesis that exposure to excessive noise increases the blood pressure of workers.

• Iberoamérica
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.73-109
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• 2020

In the tourism industry, emotional labor-related problems are highly likely because workers cannot avoid frequent face-to-face contacts with customers. Emotional labor, however, is not always recognized in the same pattern by every worker in similar situations. As can be see in this research, emotional labor appears to vary depending on individual characteristics and sociocultural and economic conditions. In fact, there are so many factors affecting emotional labor, and the level of influence concerning these factors can vary depending on when and where they are. Psychological and mental pains and stress from emotional labor depend on a number of factors. The expression of emotional labor, depending on age, length of employment and gender, shows a clear difference. In particular, for those who are planning to participate in international labor migration to the United States in the future, emotional labor was often not recognized as a serious problem or rather a positive social and cultural experience. In fact, there are various types of tourism workers in Oaxaca, and their experiences vary greatly depending on individual and economic and sociocultural environments. The emotional labor of the workers in the tourism sector of Oaxaca also has various forms depending on various conditions. Positive or negative perceptions and consequences of emotional labor vary depending on the circumstances of the individual and working conditions. In other words, socioeconomic conditions, individual personality or experiences, sociocultural characteristics, and autonomy in the workplace, have a significant impact. As a result, the forms and effects of emotional labor expressed and understood by tourism workers vary considerably and may vary depending on the situations. Considering these problems, the way emotional labor emerges is greatly influenced by sociocultural or personal factors as well as economic factors. In addition, rather than considering the existence and seriousness of emotional labor as given depending on the nature of a particular industry or work, it should also be recognized that the expression of emotional labor differ considerably from individual to individual. Also, the seriousness of problems caused by emotional labor can be diversified. In this sense, it is necessary to clearly understand the meanings of the dynamism, diversity and multidimensionality of emotional labor from a new perspective.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.28 no.4 s.51
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• pp.809-844
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• 1995

The purposes of this study are to define the scope of occupational health management and to classify occupational management by review of related journals from 1945 to 1994 in Korea. The steps of this study were as follows: (1) Search of secondary reference; (2) Collection and review of primary reference; (3) Survey; and (4) Analysis and discussion. The results were as follows ; 1. Most of the respondents majored in occupational health(71.6%), and were working in university (68.3%), males and over the age 40. Seventy percent of the respondents agreed with the idea that classification of occupational health management is necessary, and 10% disagreed. 2. After integration of the idea of respondents, we reclassified the scope of occupational health management. It was defined 3 parts, that is , occupational health system, occupational health service and others (such as assessment, epidemiology, cost-effectiveness analysis and so on). 3. The number of journals on occupational health management was 510. It was sightly increased from 1986 and abruptly increased after 1991. The kinds of journals related to occupational health management were The Korean Journal of Occupational Medicine(18.2%), Several Kinds of Medical Colloge Journal(17.0%), The Korean Journal Occupational Health(15.1%), The Korean Journal of Preventive Medicine(15.1%) and others(34.6%). As for the contents, the number of journals on occupational health management systems was 33(6.5%) and occupational health services 477(93.5%). Of the journals on occupational health management systems, the number of journals on the occupational health resource system was 15(45.5%), occupational finance system 8(24.2%), occupational health management system 6(18.2%), occupational organization 3(9.1%) and occupational health delivery system 1 (3.0%). Of the journals on occupational health services, the number of journals on disease management was 269(57.2%), health management 116(24.7%), working environmental management 85(18.1%). As for the subjects, the number of journals on general workers was 185(71.1%), followed by women worker, white coiler workers and so on. 4. Respondents made occupational health service(such as health management, working environmental management and health education) the first priority of occupational health management. Tied for the second are quality analysis(such as education, training and job contents of occupational health manager) and occupational health systems(such as the recommendation of systems of occupational and general disease and occupational health organization). 5. Thirty seven respondents suggested 48 ideas about the future research of occupational health management. The results were as follows: (1) Study of occupational health service 40.5%; (2) Study of organization system 27.1%; (3) Study of occupational health system (e.g. information network) 8.3%; (4) Study of working condition 6.2%; and (5) Study of occupational health service analysis 4.2%.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.105-112
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• 2005

In spite of relatively low level of radiation dose used at dental clinics, long term exposure may be harmful, so radiation workers at dental clinics must be well aware of its danger. This study was to analyze the factors to have an influence on safety management behavior in the radiography chamber by understanding the relationship among the knowledge, attitudes and behavior in regard with radiation safety management by dental hygienists in order to take preventive measures for dental hygienists and suggest ideas to develop radiation safety training programs. For this, we contacted dental hygienists working at the local dental clinics for 4 months from December of 2003 to march of 2004 and obtained the following findings. 1. Concering the knowledge level of radiation safety management, $8.59{\pm}2.36$ was average score with the highest of 13 and the lowest of 3 from 15-scale test. In addition, knowledge level of radiation safety management by general characteristics showed statistically significant difference according to working experience (p < 0.001), marital status (p < 0.001), attendance rate of radiation safety management training program (p < 0.001), and type of clinic (p < 0.001). 2. Concering the attitude level of radiation safety management, $4.08{\pm}0.50$ is average score with the highest of $4.31{\pm}0.73$ and the lowest of $3.82{\pm}0.89$ by item from 5-scale test. Besides, attitude level of radiation safety management by general characteristics showed statistically significant difference according to age (p < 0.001), working experience (p < 0.05), attendance rate of radiation safety management training program (p < 0.01), and type of clinic (p < 0.001). 3. Concering the behavior level of radiation safety management, $2.89{\pm}0.77$ is average score from 5-scale test, which was relatively low in comparison with the level of attitude and the highest score was $3.82{\pm}0.94$ and the lowest $2.37{\pm}1.04$ by item. Behavior level of radiation safety management by general characteristics showed statistically significant difference according to working experience (p < 0.001) and type of clinic (p < 0.001). 4. From the survey of relationship among knowledge, attitude and behavior of radiation safety management was, we found that the higher the knowledge level of radiation safety management, the higher the level of attitude and behavior, and the higher the attitude level was, the higher the level of behavior.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.36-53
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• 1987

It is utmostly important to establish the efficient fitable way of peoples' active participation in primary health care especially in the areas where the public or governmental service input for the basic health care is insufficient like as in rural areas of Korea. In light of above reason, this study focused mainly on the evaluation of roles and activities of village health workers (VHWs) who were selected from grass- root level of village people in order to derive further motivation for active participation. This is believed to be a sort of feedback mechanisms. Actually, the authors collected the activity reports of VHWs who had been devoting themselves in the primary health care services of Jeomdong Area, of Yeoju Gun one of Korea University Community Health Action Programmes and survey record on the VHWs activity from correspondent people. 1 hose data were analyzed through computer programmed package. The activities performed by VHWs were limited to the performance in 1985 for conveniance. The summarized results were as follows; 1) General characteristics of VHWs. Among a total of 28 VHWs in the area, about 39.3g of them have been replaced up to the date since the implementation in 1983, because of moving out, occupational employment and of others. The age of majority (75.0%) lied between the range of 30-50, and educational background of 67.9% belonged to category of primary school graduation, about 50% of them experienced to be or were also entiled "chief of women club" of corresponding villages. 2) Work-load of VHWs. Each VHW was assigned for tasks of health care for average 55 households of 248 persons. They shared approximately 6 days a month for the activity in average and it covered 17 cases of basic health care in a month. A half of the VHWs performed home visits irregularly without solidified schedule. 3) Work performance analysis. Informations collected through VHWs were compared with data from official vital registration at local administration center "Myon Office" in 1985. VHWs collected 100.8 of new born, 116.2 of death, 58.3 of move in and 74.8 of move out in comparison with 100.0 of official registration each. Pregnant women of 79.8% of mothers among the total pregnancy of 94 which were confirmed as normally delivered or aborted cases by all means afterwards had been detected by VHWs as being pregnant and all of them received some of antenatal cares by VHWs. All(100%) of delivered women were detected by VHWs through home visits and they were cared postnatally. Whereas, according to the records of birth registration, the places of delivery were clinic in 33.7%, and mother's home in 66.3%, VHWs reported them to be clinic in 48.9%, midwifery in 20.2%. It was cleared that most of misinformation was caused by uncautious filling of birth registration at notification. Among the total of 717 eligible women under age 44 years, family planning status of 92.6% was reported by VHWs confirming practice of control to be 70.8% of reported fertile women. 4) Attitude of VHW on the roles and functions. Although 92.0% of VHWs expressed VHWs to be worthwhile, only 52.0% of them had dignity and satisfaction in their activity and 44.0% of them had passive attitude of working saying they followed direction regardlessly. Concerning difficulties in performance as a VHW, 60.7% of them pointed out lacking of medical and health related knowledge by themselves. Still, 64.0% of them thought visiting unfamilier house to be awful and 40.0% complained forms of activity to be difficult and hard. It was also revealed that 56.6% confessed lack of interest on community health service itself. Most of VHWs needed more educational training especially on clinical fields such as cares of gynecological diseases, hypertension, diabetes, and other chronic diseaes of the aged. Regular on-the-job basic trainings were said to be needed twice a year.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.270-275
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• 2007

The QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay and tuberculin skin test (TST) have been useful test for diagnosing latent tuberculosis infections (LTBI). However, there are few reports on the efficacy of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay and TST in evaluating the response after the treatment of LTBI. This study examined the changes in the TST and QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay before and after a treatment for latent tuberculosis in health care workers (HCWs) at a local tertiary hospital. Methods: A cohort of volunteers working as nurses and doctors who underwent a TST and QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay was established. The volunteers positive for the QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay had been treated with 3 months of isoniazid (INH) and rifampin (RFP). After completing treatment, the TST and QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay were repeated. Results: Of the 48 participants (14 doctors, 34 nurses, M: F=11:37, mean $age=29.9{\pm}5.5$ years, mean employment $period=74.9{\pm}64.3$ months), 19 (39.6%) tested positive to the TST (mean induration=$19.1{\pm}9.7mm$) and 8 (16.7%) were QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay. Among them, one had active pulmonary tuberculosis. Seven volunteers were consistently positive to both the TST and QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay after being medicated with INH and RFP for 3 months. Conclusion: TST and QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay are unsuitable for evaluating the treatment response of LTBI because they were consistently positive both before and after the anti-tuberculosis medication.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.131-145
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• 2003

This study was conducted to estimate the incidence and the degree of cigarette smoking and drinking among working men, and then to investigate the effects on blood pressure, various hematological indices and blood chemistry. The sample consisted of 2,287 male workers who had undertaken a general health check-up during the two-year period from January, 2000 to December, 2001. Such factors as blood pressure, blood glucose, lipid profiles, and liver function tests were determined and then analyzed with respect to the subjects smoking and/or drinking status. The major findings from this study are: 1. The drinking and smoking status have shown that 52.7% of participants were in the habit of both drinking and smoking while 11.6% were not associated with either. On the other hand 25.4% were involved only in drinking and 10.2% only in smoking. In the group smoking over 21 cigarettes per day over 30, the age group occupied the largest proportion at 20.1%. 2. Regarding the relationship between smoking and/or drinking status, and blood pressure, hematology and blood chemistry, the smoking and/or drinking group had significantly higher levels of blood pressure, both systolic and diastolic, Hb & Hct, TG, LDL-C, SGOT, and ${\gamma}$-GTP, than the non-smoking and/or non-drinking group. But HDL-C was significantly lower in the smoking group and significantly higher in the drinking group than the non-smoking/non-drinking group. 3. Regarding amount smoked, a larger number of cigarettes per day was significantly associated with the higher levels of blood pressure, systolic and diatolic, TG, TC, LDL-C, Hb, Hct, and ${\gamma}$-GTP. As for the amount druck, an increasing amount of alcohol intake was associated with rising levels of blood pressure, systolic and diatolic, TG, TC, LDL-C, HDL-C, Hb, SGOT, and ${\gamma}$-GTP. 4. Regarding the correlation among all the variables stated above, the smoking and drinking amount was shown to be in the positive correlation with blood pressure, both systolic and diastolic, TG, TC, Hb, and ${\gamma}$-GTP. On the contrary, LDL-C and HDL-C was in a positive correlation only with the amount drunk amount, and Hct only with the amount smoked. 5. As with systolic and diastolic blood pressure, the odds ratio of the smoking group was 2.35 and 2.58 compared to the non-smoking/drinking group. whereas it was 1.47 and 1.75 in the smoking/drinking group. Concerning serum lipids, the smoking/drinking group had 1.97 times the levels of TG in the non-smoking/non-drinking group, though the smoking group had 1.55 times the levels of HDL-C in the non-smoking/non-drinking group. As with liver function test results, the drinking group had 2.50 times and the smoking/drinking group had 4.41 times the levels of ${\gamma}$-GTP in the non-smoking/drinking group. respectively. The above results revealed that smoking and alcohol intake were effected the results of blood pressure and laboratory tests. Specifically, not only the smoking/drinking group but also those only smoking or only drinking were not as desirable as the non-smoking and non-drinking group to the results of blood pressure and laboratory tests.