Investigation on diagnosis of pneumoconiosis in non-coal mining industry in Jiangsu Province / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

Objective: To understand the incidence of pneumoconiosis in the non-coal mining industry in Jiangsu Province, and provide reference for the prevention and control of pneumoconiosis in the non-coal mining industry. Methods: The data of 7019 newly diagnosed pneumoconiosis patients in non-coal mining industry in Jiangsu Province from January 1956 to December 2019 were collected through the Jiangsu Province Pneumoconiosis Follow-up Network Report System, including the gender of the pneumoconiosis patients, the name of the employer and the location, the industry classification of the employer, the duration of dust exposure in dust exposure, the name of occupational pneumoconiosis disease, the date of diagnosis of pneumoconiosis, etc. The collected case data of patients with pneumoconiosis were entered into the statistical software, and the characteristics of the patients' diagnosis time, region and industry were analyzed. Results: The number of confirmed pneumoconiosis patients in the non-coal mining industry in Jiangsu Province was mostly in 2007 (395 cases) , concentrated in Wuxi City (40.96%, 2875/7019) and Suzhou City (27.72%, 1946/7019) . The industries to which the patients belonged were mainly non-metallic mining and dressing (60.95%, 4278/7019) , and the most common type of pneumoconiosis was silicosis (96.40%, 6766/7019) . The patients were mainly stageⅠpneumoconiosis (61.33%, 4305/7019) . There were statistically significant differences in the mean age of diagnosis and the average duration of dust exposure among patients with different pneumoconiosis stages (P<0.01) . The differences in the average diagnosis age and the average duration of dust exposure of patients with different types of pneumoconiosis were statistically significant (P<0.05) , the mean age of diagnosis and the average duration of dust exposure of electric welders were the smallest, which were (44.92±7.74) years old and (17.38±10.15) years, respectively. Conclusion: The regional and industry distribution characteristics of new pneumoconiosis patients in the non-coal mining industry in Jiangsu Province are obvious, and attention should be paid to the treatment of pneumoconiosis patients with young diagnosed age and short duration of dust exposure, as well as the personal protection and health protection of front-line workers such as electric welders who are exposed to productive dust in a short period of time.

Analysis of suspected occupational chronic lead poisoning reported online and subsequent diagnosis in Jiangsu Province from 2014 to 2018 / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

Objective: To understand the distribution and characteristics of suspected occupational chronic lead poisoning reported online by Jiangsu Province, and to track the final diagnosis of suspected cases. Methods: The suspected occupational chronic lead poisoning cases in Jiangsu Province reported online from 2014 to 2018 were collected as the survey objects. Based on the reporting of the Occupational Disease Report Card from January 1, 2014 to November 5, 2019, the distribution characteristics and reporting institutions of suspected cases and final confirmed cases were analyzed. Results: From 2014 to 2018, 312 cases of suspected occupational chronic lead poisoning were reported online in Jiangsu Province. There were significant differences in the number of online reported cases of occupational chronic lead poisoning, online reported cases of suspected occupational chronic lead poisoning and confirmed cases of suspected occupational chronic lead poisoning in different years (P<0.05) , especially in 2015. Among the suspected occupational lead poisoning cases reported online, 236 cases (75.6%) were male, mainly distributed in the manufacturing industry, and 246 cases (79.1%) were operators. All the suspected occupational chronic lead poisoning cases reported online were concentrated in private enterprises, 229 cases (73.4%) in small and medium-sized enterprises. The top three cities were Suqian with 111 cases (35.6%) , Yangzhou with 79 cases (25.3%) and Huai'an with 50 cases (16.0%) . From 2014 to 2018, 19 suspected cases of occupational chronic lead poisoning were finally confirmed in Jiangsu Province, with a diagnosis rate of 6.1%. Conclusion: The majority of suspected occupational chronic lead poisoning cases reported online in Jiangsu Province are men, manufacturing and small and medium-sized enterprises, and the final diagnosis rate of suspected occupational chronic lead poisoning cases reported online is low.

Analysis on the influencing factors of low back pain in the occupational workers of key industries in China / 中国职业医学

OBJECTIVE: To explore the influencing factors of low back pain and the relationship of the influence of bad working posture, weight load and frequency of load and the dose-response relationship among the occupational workers of key industries in China. METHODS: A total of 57 501 employees from 15 key industries in China were selected as research subjects using stratified cluster sampling method. The occurrence of low back pain in the past one year, as well as occupational factors such as job type, labor organization and work posture were investigated by using the Chinese version Musculoskeletal Disorders Questionnaire. RESULTS: The prevalence of low back pain in the occupational population of key industries in China was 16.4%(9 448/57 501). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of low back pain in females was higher than that in males(P<0.01). Married, obese, occasional and frequent smokers, and a history of lower back disease were associated with increased risk of low back pain(all P<0.05). The risk of low back pain was associated with older age, higher education level, and lower frequency of physical exercise(all P<0.01). The risk of low back pain was higher with longer working time, greater back curvature, and the high frequency of long standing and sitting position work, uncomfortable working posture, repeated operation per minute, and lifting>5 kg weight(all P<0.01). CONCLUSION: The influencing factors of low back pain in the occupational population of key industries in China include bad working posture, high frequency load, weight load and other individual factors. There is a dose-response relationship with low back posture load and frequency of load.

Association between the HOTAIR Polymorphism and Susceptibility to Lead Poisoning in a Chinese Population / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

This study explored the association between the lncRNA HOTAIR polymorphism and susceptibility to lead poisoning in a Chinese population. We speculated that lead poisoning caused elevated levels of oxidative stress, which, in turn, activate the HOTAIR gene to cause apoptosis. Three lncRNA HOTAIR tagSNPs (rs7958904, rs4759314, and rs874945) were genotyped by TaqMan genotyping technology in 113 lead-sensitive and 113 lead-resistant Chinese workers exposed to lead. Rs7958904 was significantly associated with susceptibility to lead poisoning (P = 0.047). The rs7958904 G allele had a protective effect compared with the C allele and reduced the risk of lead poisoning (P = 0.016). Rs7958904 may act as a potential biomarker for predicting the risk of lead poisoning and distinguishing lead-sensitive individuals from lead-resistant individuals.

A research on the construction of an assessment index system to evaluate the implementation of health promotion in enterprises / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish an assessment index system to objectively evaluate the implementation of health promotion in enterprises.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Multi-methods, which include the reviewing references, the summarizing results of preliminary studies, the interview with experts and employers, were used in developing attentative index framework and working out the consultative questionnaires. Then the improved Delphi Method was adopted in collecting ideas from 20 experts in China, and they scored the importance of every single index by two rounds of consultation. On the basis of these data, the indicators were added , deleted or modified according to concentration and distraction levels of expert ideas. The method of the percentile weighted coefficient was conducted to decide the weighing of assessment index.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The responding rates to the two rounds of questionnaires were 90.91% and 100.00% respectively. The overall specialist authoritative coefficient was 0.69, the coordination coefficient of all indicators was 0.623 (P <0.01),and the coordination coefficient of the four kinds of first-ranking indicators was 0.313, 0.625, 0.390, 0.563, respectively (P<0.01).Eventually, an assessment index system consisting of 4 first-ranking indicators and 10 sub-indicators which were further divided into 52 grade-three indicators was set up.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The assessment index system possesses good content validity, and the liability and typicality were recognized by experts. However, it should be applied and validated in practice.</p>

Analysis of risk factors for dry eye syndrome in visual display terminal workers / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the risk factors for dry eye syndrome in visual display terminal (VDT) workers and to provide a scientific basis for protecting the eye health of VDT workers.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Questionnaire survey, Schirmer I test, tear break-up time test, and workshop microenvironment evaluation were performed in 185 VDT workers. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the risk factors for dry eye syndrome in VDT workers after adjustment for confounding factors.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In the logistic regression model, the regression coefficients of daily mean time of exposure to screen, daily mean time of watching TV, parallel screen-eye angle, upward screen-eye angle, eye-screen distance of less than 20 cm, irregular breaks during screen-exposed work, age, and female gender on the results of Schirmer I test were 0.153, 0.548, 0.400, 0.796, 0.234, 0.516, 0.559, and -0.685, respectively; the regression coefficients of daily mean time of exposure to screen, parallel screen-eye angle, upward screen-eye angle, age, working years, and female gender on tear break-up time were 0.021, 0.625, 2.652, 0.749, 0.403, and 1.481, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Daily mean time of exposure to screen, daily mean time of watching TV, parallel screen-eye angle, upward screen-eye angle, eye-screen distance of less than 20 cm, irregular breaks during screen-exposed work, age, and working years are risk factors for dry eye syndrome in VDT workers.</p>

The prevalence and influencing factors of eye diseases for IT industry video operation workers / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the situation of video-contact and eye diseases for IT industry video operation workers, and to analyze the influencing factors, providing scientific evidence for the make of health-strategy for IT industry video operation workers.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We take the random cluster sampling method to choose 190 IT industry video operation workers in a city of Jiangsu province, analyzing the relations between video contact and eye diseases.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The daily video contact time of IT industry video operation workers is 6.0-16.0 hours, whose mean value is (I 0.1 ± 1.8) hours. 79.5% of workers in this survey wear myopic lens, 35.8% of workers have a rest during their working, and 14.2% of IT workers use protective products when they feel unwell of their eyes. Following the BUT experiment, 54.7% of IT workers have the normal examine results of hinoculus, while 45.3% have the abnormal results of at least one eye. Simultaneously, 54.7% workers have the normal examine results of hinoculus in the SIT experiment, however, 42.1% workers are abnormal. According to the broad linear model, there are six influencing factors (daily mean time to video, distance between eye and displayer, the frequency of rest, whether to use protective products when they feel unwell of their eyes, the type of dis player and daily time watching TV.) have significant influence on vision, having statistical significance. At the same time, there are also six influencing factors (whether have a rest regularly,sex, the situation of diaphaneity for cornea, the shape of pupil, family history and whether to use protective products when they feel unwell of their eyes.) have significant influence on the results of BUT experiment,having statistical significance. However, there are seven influencing factors (the type of computer, sex, the shape of pupil, the situation of diaphaneity for cornea, the angle between displayer and workers' sight, the type of displayer and the height of operating floor.) have significant influence on the results of SIT experiment,having statistical significance.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The health-situation of IT industry video operation workers' eye is not optimistic, most of workers are lack of protection awareness; we need to strengthen propaganda and education according to its influencing factors and to improve the level of medical control and prevention for eye diseases in relevant industries.</p>

Analysis of blood lead level and its influencing factors of workers in one lead acid storage cell enterprise / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To understand the blood lead level and its influencing factors of workers in one lead acid storage cell enterprise in Jiangsu Province.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>An occupational health field investigation was done to this storage cell enterprise at the end of June 2011 to measure the air lead fume (dust) concentration of workplaces. Health-care information of 1364 person-times from 2009 - 2011 was collected, including blood lead level, general state of health, life and health habit. One way ANOVA and ordinal multi-categorical logistic stepwise regression were used to analysis the influencing factors of blood lead level.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The lead fume concentration range was 0.008-0.354 mg/m(3) among 12 measuring points, which 7 places were unqualified, while the concentration range of lead dust was 0.023 - 2.432 mg/m(3), 24 out of 27 measuring places were unqualified, both the qualified rate were low. The blood lead concentration of objects was (259.54 ± 106.62) µg/L, among which 96 people (7.04%) who ≥ 400 µg/L should be identified as suspected "observation object", blood lead concentration ≥ 600 µg/L was not found. The blood lead concentration of male (279.76 ± 114.93 µg/L) was significantly higher than female (242.44 ± 95.86) µg/L (t = 6.441, P < 0.01). The proportion of ≥ 400 µg/L in male (11.04%, 69/625) was significantly higher than female (3.65%, 27/739) (χ(2) = 28.237, P < 0.01). The blood lead concentration of workers who exposed to lead fume or dust (265.93 ± 103.70) µg/L was significantly higher than those of not exposed to lead (205.30 ± 115.62) µg/L (t = -6.037, P < 0.01), the blood lead concentration of workers who exposed to lead dust was (267.38 ± 98.02) µg/L significantly higher than those of exposed to lead fume (260.81 ± 121.80) µg/L (t = -2.408, P < 0.05). The proportion of ≥ 400 µg/L in workers who exposed to lead fume (dust) (7.60%, 93/1223) was significantly higher than those of not exposed to lead (2.13%, 3/141) (χ(2) = 4.538, P < 0.05). Ordinal multi-categorical logistic stepwise regression found that the lead fume concentration ≥ 0.03 mg/m(3), lead dust concentration ≥ 0.05 mg/m(3) (OR = 1.59, 95%CI: 1.06 - 2.39), length of service ≥ 3 years (OR = 1.82, 95%CI: 1.12 - 2.98), smoking (OR = 2.06, 95%CI: 1.27 - 3.37) can increase the level of blood lead concentration.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Lead dust concentration of the enterprise exceeded the standard. Workers exposed to lead fume (dust) have more occupational health hazard of lead, of whom the blood lead concentration was high. Higher lead fume (dust) concentration in workplace, longer length of service, smoking were risk factors of high blood lead concentration.</p>