The present study analyzed relationship of workplace violence and perpetrators of violence on sleep disturbance among wage workers in Korea.
The present study used data from the 4th Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS) of 2014 in selecting a total of 25,138wage workers as the study population, which excluded those who failed or refused to respond to questions required for the present study. The workplace violence experience group included people who satisfied at least one of six relevant criteria (verbal abuse, unwanted sexual attention, threatening or humiliating behavior, physical violence, bullying/harassment, and sexual harassment) and the group was divided according to whether the perpetrator of violence was a client or colleague. Presence of sleep disturbance was determined based on subjective symptoms felt within the past 12 months by each individual. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the effects on sleep distance according to general, occupational, and psychosocial characteristics, as well as the types of workplace violence and perpetrators of violence.
Workplace violence was found as a factor affecting sleep disturbance (OR = 3.773, 95 % CI = 3.058–4.655), and with respect to perpetrators of violence, complaint of sleep disturbance symptoms was higher when the perpetrator was a colleague or boss (OR = 5.688, 95 % CI 4.189–7.723) than a client (OR = 2.992, 95 % CI 2.301–3.890).
Workplace violence had an effect on occurrence of sleep disturbance and when the perpetrators of violence was a boss or colleague at work, the risk for symptoms such as sleep disturbance increased, which indicated the need for appropriate intervention from a workplace healthcare perspective, including preventive education of workplace violence among employees.
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Health problems in shift workers vary including obesity acting as a risk factor in cerebrovascular diseases. Recent studies have commonly determined the prevalence of obesity in shift workers on the basis of body mass index. The accuracy of BMI for diagnosing obesity are still limited apparently. Consequently, this study aimed to determine the relationship between shift work and obesity according to the total body fat percentage in Korean wage workers.
From the Fourth and the Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2008–2011), after military personnel were excluded, a total of 2952 wage workers (20 ≤ age ≤ 65) whose current jobs were their longest jobs were selected as subjects of the study. The total body fat percentage was used to determine the obesity standards (≥25.7 % in males and ≥36.0 % in females). The subjects were divided into groups by gender and work type (manual vs non-manual), and chi-squared test was used to evaluate the relationship between socio-economic, health behavior, and work-related factors, on the one hand, and obesity, on the other. In addition, multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the effects of shift work on obesity.
When other factors were controlled for, the risk of obesity in shift work showed a statistically significant increase (odds ratio = 1.779, 95 % confidence interval = 1.050-3.015) in the male manual worker group. However, there were no significant results in the male non-manual and female worker groups.
Shift work was related to a higher risk of obesity in the Korean male manual worker group.
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We reported a case of complicated silicosis that occurred in a glass manufacturing plant worker who had presumably been exposed to low-concentration free silica for almost 20 years. To the best of our knowledge this report is the first in the Republic of Korea. The physician’s first impression was cancer since the enlargement of neck and supraclavicuar lymph nodes had clearly progressed and metastasis was suspected in ultrasonography. However, it turned out to be reactive hyperplasia and anthracosis. Although lung cancer was suspected and tests were performed in 2 hospitals due to repetitive cough and dyspnea, along with weight loss of approximately 10% over the course of 7 months, the patient was eventually diagnosed with complicated silicosis and pneumothorax occurred after 1 year. Herein, we report this case with a literature review.
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We report a case of a spray painter who developed malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) of the maxillary sinus following long-term exposure to chromium, nickel, and formaldehyde, implying that these agents are probable causal agents of MFH.
The patient developed right-sided prosopalgia that began twenty months ago. The symptom persisted despite medical treatment. After two months, he was diagnosed with MFH through imaging studies, surgery, and pathological microscopic findings at a university hospital in Seoul. His social, medical, and family history was unremarkable.
The patient had worked for about 18 years at an automobile repair shop as a spray painter. During this period, he had been exposed to various occupational agents, such as hexavalent chromium, nickel, and formaldehyde, without appropriate personal protective equipment. He painted 6 days a week and worked for about 8 hours a day.
Investigation of the patient’s work environment detected hexavalent chromium, chromate, nickel, and formaldehyde.
The study revealed that the patient had been exposed to hexavalent chromium, formaldehyde, and nickel compounds through sanding and spray painting. The association between paranasal cancer and exposure to the aforementioned occupational human carcinogens has been established. We suggest, in this case, the possibility that the paint spraying acted as a causal agent for paranasal cancer.
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