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Background@#Telework adoption in Taiwan has surged because of government guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined the disclosure practices of Taiwanese-listed companies, assessing their adherence to government telework guidelines and their correlation with corporate governance, focusing on occupational health measures. @*Methods@#We conducted a guideline-adherent cohort analysis of the 2020 and 2021 sustainability reports of 295 Taiwanese-listed companies. We assessed their disclosure of corporate measures for teleworking in alignment with two government guidelines, specifically occupational health measures. Using the McNemar test and general estimating equation analysis, we compared the 2020 and 2021 responses and examined their associations with corporate governance rankings. @*Results@#Telework adoption increased significantly from 2020 to 2021, with 68% of companies reporting new work modes. The mentioning of government guidelines also increased to 67% by 2021. Companies with higher governance rankings were more likely to adopt online occupational health measures, including occupational health services (RR = 2.03; 95% CI = 1.41–2.94; p < 0.001) and mental health promotion activities (RR = 2.01; 95% CI = 1.06–3.82; p = 0.032), than those with low rankings. Although on-site and online occupational health services increased, home workspace assessments did not. @*Conclusion@#Our findings highlight significant upward trends in the disclosure of telework measures following the issuance of government guidelines. Corporate governance is significantly associated with the implementation of occupational health measures. Amid the evolution of teleworking, both government guidelines and corporate governance have become essential for shaping work arrangements and ensuring workforce well-being.
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Background@#To examine the influences of psychosocial work conditions on mental health risk and intention to leave the public sector among workers of public health agencies in Taiwan. @*Methods@#We surveyed 492 public health workers in March 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Information on job demands, job control, workplace justice, experiences of workplace violence and its type and origin, and mental health status (assessed by the 5-item Brief Symptom Rating Scale, BSRS-5) was obtained. Of them, 192 participated in a follow-up survey conducted in May 2023 that assessed mental health status, employment changes, and intention to leave. @*Results@#In the initial survey, 32.93% of participants reported poor mental health status, defined by having a score of BSRS-5 ≧ 10, and 48.17% experienced some form of workplace violence over the past year. Notably, high psychosocial job demands (OR = 3.64, 95% CI = 1.93–6.87), low workplace justice (OR = 2.58, 95% CI = 1.45–4.58), and workplace violence (OR = 2.38, 95% CI = 1.51–3.77) were significantly associated with increased risk of mental disorders. Among those who participated in the follow-up survey, 22.40% had persistent poor mental health, and 30.73% considered leaving or have left the public sector. Longitudinal analyses indicated that job demands predicted persistent mental disorders and intention to leave the public sector, and the experience of workplace violence added additional mental health risks. @*Conclusion@#The public health workforce is crucial for effective and resilient public health systems. Our findings that public health workers were at high mental health risk and had a high intention to leave the job warrant attention and policy interventions.
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Objective To investigate the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes and visceral obesity. Methods Subjects were divided into three groups:control group(group C),type 2 diabetes mellitus with non-obesity group (group DM) and type 2 diabetes mellitus with visceral obesity group (group DM + OB). General clinical characteristics, morning blood cortisol concentrations and 24 h urine free cortisol of three groups were compared. Serum cortisol levels were also compared after 0.25 mg dexamethasone suppression test and followed by oral intake of 25 mg cortisone acetate. Results (1) There were no significant differences in basal cortisol levels, but after inhibition with dexamethasone the group DM + OB showed significantly higher cortisol level than that in the control group (P < 0.01). (2) Conversion of oral cortisone to plasma cortisol differed significantly between the group C (lower) and group DM + OB (P < 0.05). (3) Plasma LH and FSH concerntrations were significantly lower in group DM + OB compared with group C (P < 0.01). Conclusion In the postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes mellitus, the negative feedback mechanism and hepatic 11β-HSD-1 activity were impaired, especially in those with visceral obesity.