ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is frequently present among workers. This syndrome's professional and economic impact makes it a priority in occupational health. We aimed to describe the professional future of workers suffering from occupational CTS after surgery and the factors that could influence their retention at the job. -Methods: A retrospective descriptive study of workers operated on occupational CTS was conducted from 2014 to 2019. The data was collected using pre-established and phone questionnaires to determine their professional future after surgery. RESULTS: We included 99 workers with operated CTS. They had a mean age of 45±6.5 years, were predominantly female (97%), and had two dependent children in 72.7% of cases. They worked as a seamstress in 44.4% of patients with a mean professional seniority of 18±7.2 years. The professional future was a return to work with a job transfer at 44.4% and job maintenance with ergonomic adjustments at 39.4%. A job loss was noticed in 12.2% of cases. Early retirement was noticed in 8.2%, dismissal in 3%, and resignation in 1% of cases. The factors influencing the professional future were age 50 to 59 years (p=0.01) and dependent children (p=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: In our survey, most operated-CTS workers benefited from a job transfer and kept their job with ergonomic adjustments to their work conditions. Therefore, interventions aiming to improve the professional future of workers operated on CTS by ensuring sufficient staff and adjusting workplaces are needed.
Subject(s)
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome , Occupational Diseases , Child , Humans , Female , Adult , Middle Aged , Male , Carpal Tunnel Syndrome/surgery , Cross-Sectional Studies , Occupational Diseases/epidemiology , Occupational Diseases/surgery , Retrospective Studies , Ergonomics , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Suicidal behaviour is a major health problem, particularly among patients with depressive disorders. AIMS: To determine the frequency of suicidal behavior among sample of patients with recurrent depressive disorder and to explore the relationship between suicidal behavior and cyclothymic temperament in these patients. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study bearing on 98 patients (43 men and 55 women, mean age of 46.8 ± 9.9 years) followed for recurrent depressive disorder according to the criteria of DSM-IV recruited during partial or complete recovery interval. Information about suicidal behavior was collected from medical records. Cyclothymic temperament (CT) was assessed using the cyclothymic subscale (21 items). Patients who had scores above the threshold score of 10 and were considered as cyclothymic (CT+ group) and other patients were considered non-cyclothymic (CT- group). RESULTS: History of suicide attempts were reported in 22.4% of patients. The mean number of previous suicide attempts was significantly higher among patients in the TC+ group (0.7 ± 1.4) versus 0.2 ± 0.6 for patients in the TC- group (p=0.01). Recurrent thoughts of death and suicide attempts in the last depressive episode, were significantly higher in the CT+ group, with a 57.5% versus 24.6% in the CT- group, (p=0.001) and 33.3% versus 10.7% in the TC- group (p=0.006). A multivariate analysis retained the TC as an independent factor associated with suicidal behavior, with two other factors: the young age of patients and the frequency of previous hospitalizations. CONCLUSION: Our findings the frequency of suicidal behavior and suggest the involvement of CT in the increased risk of suicide among patients with recurrent depressive disorder.
Subject(s)
Cyclothymic Disorder/epidemiology , Depressive Disorder/epidemiology , Suicide, Attempted/statistics & numerical data , Adult , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Recurrence , Temperament/physiologyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Recent studies have suggested that clinicians may under diagnose bipolarity in a substantial proportion of depressive patients, and proposed that affective temperaments particularly cyclothymic temperament (CT), may predict bipolarity in these patients. The objectives of this study were to assess CT in patients with recurrent depressive disorder (RDD) and to explore its associations with clinical predictors of bipolarity. METHODS: 98 patients (43 men and 55 women, mean age=46.8±9.9years), followed for RDD according to DSM-IV-TR criteria, were recruited. CT was assessed using the Tunisian version of the TEMPS cyclothymic subscale with the threshold score of 10/21. RESULTS: The mean score of CT was 6.5±5.2. One-third of patients (33.7%) had a CT score ≥10. These patients with high CT scores had significantly early age at onset of first depressive episode and high number of previous depressive episodes, and had more psychotic and melancholic features and suicidal ideations and attempts during the last depressive episode compared to patients with low CT scores. The multiple regression analysis showed an association between CT scores and psychotic, melancholic and atypical features and suicide attempts during the last depressive episode. LIMITATIONS: This is a cross-sectional study with a relatively small number of patients. The Tunisian version of the CT subscale was not yet validated. CONCLUSIONS: CT was associated with some clinical predictive factors of bipolarity. These results suggest the relevance of the CT screening in RDD, considering the change of polarity risk and misdiagnosis of unipolar depression.
