This study investigated the risk perceptions, prevalence of environmental diseases (EDs) and associated factors with the prevalence of environmental disease among the population living near an incinerator
Study area were divided into 3 local areas near the incinerator by distance (A, B, C) and control area (D) by distance and geographic isolation. A Questionnaire was conducted with 1,380 in local residents (A, B, C) and 390 in control area (D), gathered information of demographic characteristics, lifestyle, perception of damage by incinerators, experience of EDs (atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, asthma) diagnosed by physician. Analysis of variance, χ2 test, and Kruskal Wallis test was applied to determine the difference by area. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with the prevalence of allergic rhinitis.
Residents residing closer to the incinerator had negative perception in most items in questionnaire compared with control. The prevalence of allergic rhinitis was higher as they lived nearby the incinerator (
As closer to the incinerator, the risk perception tend to negative and prevalence of EDs were increased. Carpet, residential area, duration of residence and perception of environmental air pollution around the residential area were associated with prevalence of allergic rhinitis. These results may be useful for the communication with residents to discuss the environmental problems caused by the incinerator.
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Although one in two firefighters in South Korea have experienced work-related injuries, there are few studies which show the overview description on work-related injuries and its analysis regarding such causes. Therefore, we aimed to show the overview of compensated work-related injuries in order to serve fundamental data for establishing prevention policies on work-related injuries for Korean firefighters.
We requested the all claimed work-related injury data of Korean firefighters from 2010 to 2015 to the Korean National Fire Agency (NFA). The data from NFA including 2457 claimed cases was analyzed and we confirmed, 2154 approved work-related injuries for the kinds of job activities, cause of accident and type of injuries. Among 2154 approved cases, we analyzed more variables for the sex, age, and job duration of 1344 compensated cases through served text file on summary of accident.
The Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS) recognized 2154 (87.7%) approved work-related injuries among 2457 claimed cases. The incidence of work-related injuries per 1000 firefighters was 9.8 persons. By region, the incidence of work-related injuries per 1000 firefighters ranged from a maximum of 14.5 to a minimum of 4.0. The most common job activity caused the accident was fire suppression (18.0%), followed by Emergency medical services (EMS) (17.5%) and training (10.7%). The most common cause of these accident was movement imbalance (30.3%), followed by falls (18.9%) and traffic accident (13.4%). In these work-related injuries, sprains and bruises were the most common type of injury (27.2%), and the most commonly injured body site was the upper and lower back (25.3%). Data from identified 1344 firefighters showed that 1264 (94.0%) were male and 80 (6.0%) were female. Age group was the highest in the 40s with 623 cases (46.4%), and job duration was the highest with 650 cases in 5–10 years (48.4%).
In this study, we could obtain the preliminary data necessary to establish preventive measures, including the cause of accident and region with high accident rates. However, the number of applications for compensated injuries was very small compared to the frequency of injuries found in previous studies. The lack of appropriate treatment suggested that many firefighter injuries can become chronic. In this study, we suggest that it is necessary to introduce an injury monitoring system and improve the accessibility of compensated injuries.
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There are few published studies on the relationship between occupational lumbar load and facet joint degeneration (FJD). This cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the effect of physical lumbar load on FJD by comparing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of firefighters (FFs) and hospital office workers (HOWs).
We randomly sampled 341 male FFs and 80 male HOWs by age stratification. A questionnaire and clinical examination, including MRI of the lumbar spine (T12-S1), were conducted. FJD was diagnosed and graded by using the classification of Pathria et al., and reclassified into two groups as follows: no FJD (grade 0) and FJD (grades 1, 2, and 3). The prevalence of FJD was analyzed according to occupational group.
The prevalence of FJD ranged from 31% (L1–L2) to 75% (L4–L5) in the FFs, and from 18% (L1–L2) to 69% (L4–L5) in the HOWs. After adjustment for age, body mass index, and frequency of physical exercise, the adjusted odds ratios (OR) for FJD in the FFs were significantly higher than those in the HOWs at all lumbar spinal levels, except for L3–L4 (L1–L2: OR, 2.644; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.317–5.310; L2–L3: OR, 2.285; 95% CI, 1.304–4.006; L4–L5: OR, 1.918; 95% CI, 1.037–3.544; L5–S1: OR, 1.811; 95% CI, 1.031–3.181).
This study shows that FFs exhibit a greater likelihood of having FJD than HOWs after controlling for other risk factors of FJD. This suggests that the physical occupational demands of FFs affect their risk of developing FJD.
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