Category: Nevin Manimala

Work. 2023 Jun 24. doi: 10.3233/WOR-220705. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic had a harmful impact on the psychological and physical health of children and teenagers. It is known that interruptions in rehabilitation can cause soft tissue contractures, bone deformities and a decline in motor functions among other complications.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the quality of life and physical activity levels of physically disabled children who continued and did not continue rehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHOD: The gross motor levels of 18 children who continued special education and rehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic and 18 children who did not continue were determined with the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). The International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ) and Children’s Quality of Life Scale (PedsQL) questionnaires were administered.

RESULTS: The study participants comprised 54.1% females and 45.9% males with a mean age of 9.02 years. No significant differences were detected between the two groups in respect of demographic, clinical and functional characteristics (p > 0.05). The walking parameters of PedsQL (p = 0.02) and IPAQ-SF scores (p = 0.03) were determined to be statistically significantly better in the group that continued rehabilitation.

CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that the quality of life and walking capacity of children who continued rehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic were better. Methods should be developed to ensure that rehabilitation is not interrupted during isolation periods of any future pandemic.

PMID:37393478 | DOI:10.3233/WOR-220705

Work. 2023 Jun 26. doi: 10.3233/WOR-220491. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Early self-assessment for work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) is crucial in preventing severe symptoms and long-term consequences. Accessible tools are necessary for proactive management.

OBJECTIVE: To validate the OfficeCheck web application as a screening tool to classify office workers as capable of self-management for specific symptoms of WMSDs or requiring professional consultation.

METHODS: This study was conducted to determine the criterion-related validity of OfficeCheck using physical therapy assessment as the reference standard. In total, 223 office workers who work with a computer more than two hours a day with or without symptoms of WMSDs participated in this study. All of them were classified by self-assessment on the OfficeCheck process flow (Kappa = 0.841) and physical therapy assessment, respectively. For statistical analysis, classification numbers were calculated for sensitivity, specificity, false positive rate (FPR), false negative rate (FNR), positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV).

RESULTS: A total of 223 workers with a mean age of 38.9±9.0 years and mean body mass index (BMI) of 24.3±5.2 kg/m2 were illustrated. The most common areas of complaint were neck/upper back and lower back/hip. The results indicated that OfficeCheck had high sensitivity (95.1%), low specificity (42.0%), low PPV (38.0%), and high NPV (95.8%). The FPR was 58.0% and the FNR was 4.9%.

CONCLUSION: OfficeCheck was found to have high sensitivity to classify office workers as capable of self-management for specific symptoms of WMSDs or requiring professional consultation. Use of OfficeCheck is thus recommended for self-detection and management to stop the consequences of WMSDs.

PMID:37393474 | DOI:10.3233/WOR-220491

Work. 2023 Jun 26. doi: 10.3233/WOR-220485. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Burnout is not only related to mental health but also to efficiency. Thus, recognizing effective coping strategies has a significant role in improving mental health, the efficiency and productivity of human resources, and making better the level of quality of service.

OBJECTIVE: To determine burnout syndrome and examine related factors among the employees of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.

METHOD: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 600 employees at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. They were selected by a stratified sampling method. The data collection tool was the demographic information and the Burnout Self-Test Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 20 software, descriptive statistics and independent samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson and Spearman regression.

RESULTS: The findings showed that emotional exhaustion and depersonalization in the majority of employees were high and personal accomplishment was low at 88.33% of cases. All participants presented burnout. However, participants aged 35-40 years, those with professional and Ph.D. degrees, and research staff reported higher burnout levels.

CONCLUSION: Job burnout and its subscale levels among the employees were high. Job burnout is associated with socioeconomic status that can be affected by individual, organizational, management, and environmental factors. Therefore, this study suggests that employees need to get out of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization conditions for higher job performance. Additionally, further research is required to examine the long-term effects of workplace burnout.

PMID:37393473 | DOI:10.3233/WOR-220485

Work. 2023 Jun 26. doi: 10.3233/WOR-220431. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Sleep and mental health are very important in the aviation industry. Reports show that gender is one of the risk factors of insomnia, and most Asia flight attendants are female. Therefore, it is necessary to understand insomnia, and the correction to mental health among female flight attendants.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of insomnia in female flight attendants and its association with mental health.

METHODS: We used a cross-sectional design. We recruited 412 female flight attendants with more than 3 months of working experience. We collected the socio-demographic and work-related data, measured insomnia and mental health by the Athens Insomnia and Brief Symptom Rating Scales. Descriptive statistics, single-factor analysis of variance, Pearson’s correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling were performed to analyze the relationships.

RESULTS: There are 45.4% of female flight attendants having insomnia, and 24.8% had suspicious insomnia. The most considerable and serious insomnia problem was falling asleep (15.3%, 4.9%). Factors related to insomnia including smoking, drinking, family load (e.g., housekeeping and caring for family), economic stress and late-night/early morning workdays during last month. Also, insomnia had a direct association with mental health (T = 17.11, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: We found that insomnia is negatively correlated with the above factors and mental health. We recommend that airline industries can run their sleep-education programs and provide relevant mental-health-promotion programs for flight attendants.

PMID:37393471 | DOI:10.3233/WOR-220431

Work. 2023 Jun 24. doi: 10.3233/WOR-220396. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Occupational noise exposure is a significant health problem. In addition to hearing impairments, noise as a stressor may cause cardiovascular problems.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the effect of exposure to workplace noise on cardiovascular disease risk factors.

METHODS: This case-control study was conducted in 2021 in a power plant in Iran. In this study, the health status of 406 employees in both exposed (n = 203) and non-exposed (n = 203) to noise groups was examined for cardiovascular disease risk factors. Also, the trend of changes in the studied variables from 2012 to 2020 in exposed employees was examined. Data were collected from participants’ annual physical examinations and occupational noise exposure measurements. To measure the noise in the present study, the KIMO-DB300 noise level meter was used. Data were analyzed in SPSS-26 software.

RESULTS: The results revealed that mean fasting blood sugar (FBS), triglyceride, liver enzyme (SGOT), blood pressure, and body mass index were significantly different in the two groups (p-value<0.05). There was no significant difference in the mean of creatinine, cholesterol, and liver enzyme (SGPT) between the two groups (p-value>0.05). In the exposed group, the mean of all studied variables except diastolic blood pressure was statistically different during the study years (p-value<0.05).

CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that exposure to noise above the permissible level can affect the cardiovascular disease risk factors, so it is recommended to apply engineering and management measures like using Hearing Conservation Programme (HCP) to reduce the risk of these diseases with periodically assessing the health status of employees and timely diagnosis.

PMID:37393469 | DOI:10.3233/WOR-220396

Work. 2023 Jun 24. doi: 10.3233/WOR-220330. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: People with disabilities are employed at lower rates than non-disabled individuals and, among people with disabilities, those with intellectual disabilities have most difficulty finding and keeping employment. The reasons for the low labour participation among people with intellectual disabilities are many. Sport participation has a number of positive effects for the individual, and it is reasonable to hypothesise that sport participation favours labour-force participation for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

OBJECTIVE: The dual aim of the current study was to investigate labour market participation among Swedish athletes with intellectual disabilities attending Special Olympics Invitational Games, and to investigate these athletes’ experiences regarding the effect of sport participation on finding and keeping a job.

METHOD: The study design includes two parallel data collections, a survey and an interview study. The survey was analysed using descriptive statistics and the interviews were analysed using content analysis.

RESULTS: The major result of the survey was the large number of individuals with intellectual disabilities who were in work: among men, 72% and, among women, 44%. This result was encouraging and differs from previous statistics on employment among Swedes with intellectual disabilities. The content analysis resulted in a first step in the categories manual work, individual sports and team sports, and in a second step, where the relation between sports and work was analysed, in two categories, namely indirect and direct relations between sport and work.

CONCLUSION: To improve chances for individuals with intellectual disabilities to find and keep a job, sport participation should be encouraged.

PMID:37393467 | DOI:10.3233/WOR-220330

Technol Health Care. 2023 Jun 29. doi: 10.3233/THC-230275. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Being in peak physical condition and having specific motor abilities are necessity for every top-level soccer player in order to achieve success in competition. In order to correctly assess soccer players’ performance, this research uses laboratory and field measurements, as well as results of competitive performance obtained by direct software measurements of players’ movement during the actual soccer game.

OBJECTIVE: The main goal of this research is to give insight into the key abilities that soccer players need to have in order to perform in competitive tournaments. Besides training adjustments, this research also gives insight into what variables need to be tracked in order to accurately assess the efficiency and functionality of the players.

METHODS: The collected data need to be analyzed using descriptive statistics. Collected data is also used as input for multiple regression models that can predict certain key measurements: total distance covered, percent of effective movements and high index of effective performance movements.

RESULTS: Most of the calculated regression models have high predictability level with statistically significant variables.

CONCLUSION: Based on the results of regression analysis it can be deduced that motor abilities are important factor in measuring soccer player’s competitive performance and team’s success in the match.

PMID:37393460 | DOI:10.3233/THC-230275

Technol Health Care. 2023 Jun 29. doi: 10.3233/THC-230252. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In malignant tumours of the female reproductive system, cervical cancer is second only to breast cancer, seriously threatening the health and safety of most women.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical value of 3.0 T multimodal nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics’ (FIGO) staging of cervical cancer.

METHODS: The clinical data of 30 patients with pathologically diagnosed cervical cancer admitted to our hospital from January 2018 to August 2022 were analysed retrospectively. Before treatment, all patients were examined with conventional MRI, diffusion-weighted imaging and multi-directional contrast-enhanced imaging.

RESULTS: The accuracy of multimodal MRI in the FIGO staging of cervical cancer (29/30, 96.7%) was significantly higher than the accuracy obtained in a control group (21/30, 70.0%), with a statistically significant difference (p= 0.013). In addition, there was good agreement between two observers applying multimodal imaging (kappa= 0.881) and moderate agreement between two observers in the control group (kappa= 0.538).

CONCLUSION: Multimodal MRI can evaluate cervical cancer comprehensively and accurately to enable accurate FIGO staging, providing significant evidence for clinical operation planning and subsequent combined therapy.

PMID:37393459 | DOI:10.3233/THC-230252

Technol Health Care. 2023 Jun 20. doi: 10.3233/THC-230001. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is a polyaromatic semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymer with mechanical and lubrication properties favorable for biomedical applications. Despite of its aesthetic appearance, ceramic brackets are unsatisfactory in brittleness and thickness, while PEEK is a potential material for aesthetic orthodontic brackets.

OBJECTIVE: To fabricate a novel aesthetic orthodontic bracket and evaluate friction properties of PEEK and stainless steel wires.

METHODS: All polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and ceramic samples disks were made into disks (diameter, 5 mm; thickness, 2 mm). The tested surfaces of PEEK were ground with #600, #800 and #1200 SiC papers, followed by polishing with Sof-Lex kit (3M ESPE, USA). The surface roughness was tested using a laser profilometer device (VK-X200, Keyence, Japan). The COFs of the specimens and stainless steel (SS) archwires were tested using a Universal Micro-Tribotester (UMT-3, Bruker, USA). The wear scratches on the materials’ surfaces were examined by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) (Hitachi SU8010). The elastic modulus and hardness of samples were examined with a nano-indenter (XP, Keysight Technologies, USA).

RESULTS: The mean surface roughness of PEEK and Ceramic are 0.320 ± 0.028 μm and 0.343 ± 0.044 μm, respectively. PEEK has a lower Friction coefficient than Ceramic and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P< 0.05). The abrasive wear of Ceramic was the main wear style and was characterized by the observation of chipping fractures. While PEEK surface still looks smooth without obvious scale-like desquamations and granular debris, indicating adhesive wear.

CONCLUSION: Within the limitations of the present study, PEEK shows lower coefficient of friction than ceramic. PEEK has excellent properties such as low friction coefficient, smooth surface and good mechanical properties, and thus meets the requirements for orthodontic brackets. It is considered as a potential bracket material with both low friction and aesthetic performance.

PMID:37393452 | DOI:10.3233/THC-230001

Technol Health Care. 2023 Jun 29. doi: 10.3233/THC-220863. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Whole-process management is a novel approach widely applied in industry and commerce; however, it is not widely used in the management of medical records in hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to investigate the application of whole-process control in the administration of a hospital’s medical records department to achieve refined management of medical records.

METHODS: Whole-process control is a management measure that begins with process conception and implementation and includes control over all processes The control group included medical records that were created prior to the implementation of whole-process control, i.e., those created between June 1 and December 31, 2020. The observation group included medical records that were created after the implementation of whole-process control. The behavior of the medical records staff (in terms of medical record collection, sorting, entry, inquiry, and supply) and the final quality of the medical records (the number of grade-A medical records and their front-page quality) were compared between the two groups, and subjective judgments related to staff satisfaction were reviewed.

RESULTS: The implementation of whole-process control improved the behavior of the medical records staff. The final quality of the medical records was also improved, as was the job satisfaction of the medical records staff.

CONCLUSION: Implementing whole-process control improved the management of medical records and quality of medical records.

PMID:37393450 | DOI:10.3233/THC-220863