Application and evaluation of signal strength indictor in communicable disease automatic early warning system / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the effect of signal strength indictor (SSI) in improving sensitivity of China Infectious Diseases Automated-alert and Response System (CIDARS).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Diarrhea cases in 2007-2011 and early warning signals in 2010-2011 were selected by using random digital table method. Then, SSI and event-related ratio (ER) were calculated. The relationship between ER and SSI was analyzed, and the effect of SSI on ER was explored by using multiple logistic regression analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>9 620 early warning signals in 2010-2011 were generated in two years. Of these, 74, or 0.77% were defined as suspected outbreak signal. The median of SSI related with suspected outbreak signal was 4.0, which was much higher than non-suspected outbreak signal (1.7). ER was significantly correlated with SSI (r=0.917). SSI classification has a good correlation between the ER, ER exceeded 20 after SSI reached 20. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed OR of SSI related with suspected outbreak signal was 2.52 (95% CI 2.04-3.12). Compared with non-epidemic season, the relationship of SSI and ER in epidemic season was much higher.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>SSI was closely related with ER. The relationship was much closer in large scale outbreak and epidemic season, and compared to non-epidemic,the effect of epidemic season is more obvious.</p>

Analysis of posttraumatic stress disorder in rescuers and firefighters / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the occurrence and associated factors for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in rescuers and firefighters.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The PTSD of 264 rescuers and firefighters who had participated in rescue was evaluated using the self-designed fireman general situation questionnaire and PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C). The factors associated with the occurrence of PTSD were also analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The incidence rate of PTSD in the subjects was 8.3%. The PTSD rate of special service corps (12%) was significantly higher than that of other subjects (P<0.05). The incidence of PTSD was highest in the rescuers and firefighters above the third rank, but without significant differences (P>0.05). The PTSD rate of married rescuers and firefighters was significantly higher than that of unmarried subjects (P<0.05). The PTSD rate of subjects addicted to drinking was significantly higher than that of non-drinking subjects (P<0.05). Subjects with more frequent attendance were more susceptible to PTSD compared with those with less attendance.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The incidence rate of PTSD is high in rescuers and firefighters who have attended rescues. It is necessary to implement both short-term and long-term counseling programs for stress management and intervention in order to reduce the psychological trauma after rescue and improve the mental health of rescuers and firefighters.</p>

Relationship of personality with job burnout and psychological stress risk in clinicians / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the job burnout and mental health status of clinicians and the relationship of personality with job burnout and psychological stress, and to investigate the direct or indirect effects of personality on psychological stress.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised Short Scale (EPQ-RSC), and Kessler 10 Scale were administered to 775 clinicians.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of all clinicians, 29.5% had mild burnout, with a score of 22.7 ± 8.18 for psychological stress risk. The effect of personality on emotional exhaustion and cynicism was greater than that on personal accomplishment. Clinicians with a personality of introversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism suffered a higher risk of psychological stress. Personality had both direct and indirect effects on psychological stress. Neuroticism had the strongest effect on psychological stress, with an effect size of 0.55.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Clinicians have a high level of both job burnout and mental psychological stress risk. Personality is significantly correlated with job burnout and psychological stress risk. Measures depending on personality should be taken for effective intervention.</p>

Analysis of work-related fatigue characteristics and its influencing factors in scientific and technical personnel / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the current status and characteristics of work-related fatigue among scientific and technical personnel and its associated factors, and to provide a scientific basis for further interventions.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the staff from a single scientific institution, using a self-administered questionnaire. Basic information of participants, Fatigue Scale-14, and Job Content Questionnaire were collected.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The prevalence of work-related fatigue among the scientific and technical personnel was 54.6%; work-related fatigue was positively correlated with occupational stress (rs = 0.384, P < 0.05). Significant differences in the scores, proportions, and types of fatigue were found between different types of occupational stress. The associated factors of work-related fatigue included occupational stress profiles, social support, and educational status. A higher risk of work-related fatigue was found in the staff under high stress, compared with those under low stress (OR = 8.5, 95%CI = 3.9∼18.7). Social support served as a protective factor for work-related fatigue, while a higher level of education was correlated with more severe work-related fatigue.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Work-related fatigue is common and serious among scientific and technical personnel, especially in those under high stress. Effective interventions according to occupational stress are of great importance to reduce work-related fatigue.</p>

Analysis of effect on infectious diseases outbreak detection performance by classifying provinces for moving percentile method / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Providing evidences for further modification of China Infectious Diseases Automated-alert and Response System (CIDARS) via analyzing the outbreak detection performance of Moving Percentile Method (MPM) by optimizing thresholds in different provinces.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We collected the amount of MPM signals, response results of signals in CIDARS, cases data in nationwide Notifiable Infectious Diseases Reporting Information System, and outbreaks data in Public Health Emergency Reporting System of 16 infectious diseases in 31 provinces in Chinese mainland from January 2011 to October 2013. The threshold with the optimal sensitivity, the shortest time to detect outbreak and the least number of signals was considered as the best threshold of each disease in Chinese mainland and in each province.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among all the 16 diseases, the optimal thresholds of 10 diseases, including dysentery, dengue, hepatitis A, typhoid and paratyphoid, meningococcal meningitis, Japanese encephalitis, scarlet fever, leptospirosis, hepatitis, typhus in country level were the 90(th) percentile (P90), which was the same as provincial level for those diseases.For the other 6 diseases, including other infectious diarrhea, influenza, acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis, mumps, rubella and epidemic hemorrhagic fever, the nationwide optimal thresholds were the 80th percentile (P80), which was different from that by provinces for each disease. For these 6 diseases, the number of signals generated by MPM with the optimal threshold for each province was decreased by 23.71% (45 557), 15.59% (6 124), 14.07% (1 870), 9.44% (13 881), 8.65% (1 294) and 6.03% (313) respectively, comparing to the national optimal threshold, while the sensitivity and time to detection of CIDARS were still the same.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Optimizing the threshold by different diseases and provinces for MPM in CIDARS could reduce the number of signals while maintaining the same sensitivity and time to detection.</p>