Association between glycemic control and shift working among healthcare workers with diabetes, Dammam, Saudi Arabia: Five years' experience.

OBJECTIVES: To delineate the relation between shift work and glycemic control among the healthcare workers (HCWs) with diabetes mellitus (DM) in the hospitals of Dammam, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among HCWs with DM working in 3 hospitals in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, from November 2018 to January 2019. The study participants answered a self-administered questionnaire related to sociodemographic data, work-related questions, diabetes-related questions, the latest hemoglobin A1C test outcome, and self-management activities. The Chi-square and t-test were used to determine the association between the risk factor of glycemic control and shift work. RESULTS: The HCW's ages ranged from 24-60 years. The mean age of the employees in the day shift was 42.4±7.7 years and night shift was 42.1±7.3 years. The significant difference between daytime workers and shift workers was observed in terms of occupation, and obesity. Day shift employees reported being significantly more physically active than shift workers. The daily day shift led the employee to miss their routine clinic visits for DM. Shift workers had more weight gain due to unhealthy food intake, sleep deprivation, and improper physical activity when compared with daytime employees. Anti-clockwise shift rotation significantly demonstrated that 92.9% of employees developed uncontrolled DM. CONCLUSION: Glycemic control was worsened among the shift worker with DM compared to daytime workers.

Epidemiology of tuberculosis among different occupational groups in Makkah region, Saudi Arabia.

Each year in Saudi Arabia, the Hajj season represents one of the world's most significant annual mass gatherings, attracting high proportion of immigrants from different parts of the world in small crowded areas, posing a risk for Tuberculosis (TB) transmission. There is a high potential for TB contact and infection in the workplace as it is transmitted through the air. Most of the studies in Saudi Arabia assessed the TB infection among health care workers. However, the TB incidence rate among other variant occupational groups was not yet determined. This study was conducted to assess the incidence rate of tuberculosis, and determine the risk factors of TB infection among different occupational groups in the Makkah region, Saudi Arabia 2016. A cross-sectional study was carried out based on the secondary data of the patients registered in the Saudi national tuberculosis control and prevention program in 2016. Data were then organized and analyzed for age, gender, nationality, educational level, average monthly wage, average weekly working hours, and occupation of the patients. Occupations were reclassified according to the Saudi Standard Classification of Occupation (SSCO). A total of 1270 cases were included in this study, 300 (23.6%) of them were workers. The incidence rate of TB among workers in the Makkah region was 9 per 100,000 workers compared to 31 per 100,000 persons among the general population in 2016. The TB incidence rate was the highest among occupation of supporting basic engineering with 13 per 100,000 workers in 2016. The highest incidence rate of TB among occupations of supporting basic engineering could be attributed to close contact with the general population in closed spaces for long periods of time, and low socioeconomic status.

Low Back Pain among Workers in a Paint Factory.

BACKGROUND: Back pain is common among factory workers and is responsible for about 25% of workers' compensation cases. However, data on back pain among workers from paint industry in Saudi Arabia are limited. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to estimate the prevalence of low back pain and to evaluate the associated risk factors among workers of a paint factory. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study used a self-administered questionnaire to elicit data regarding demography, job characteristics and prevalence of low back pain in the past 12 months among workers of a paint factory (n = 102) in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. In addition, a scale of low back pain risk was generated for each department by occupational health professionals using interviews and observations. RESULTS: The annual prevalence of low back pain was 44.1%, and it was more common among Saudi workers (67.9%) compared with non-Saudi workers (35.1%). Multivariate analysis indicated significant associations between low back pain and nationality (relative risk [RR] = 1.93; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.29-2.88), smoking (RR = 1.85; 95% CI = 1.20-2.83) and aerobic exercise (RR = 2.37; 95% CI = 1.19-4.71). Spearman rank correlation showed correlation between the symptom pain scale and smoking (r s = 0.259; P = 0.008), and exercise was associated with lower pain scale scores (r s = -0.241, P = 0.015). CONCLUSION: This study found that low back pain is common among paint factory workers in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Nationality and smoking are risk factors for low back pain and are associated with each other. Many workers did not exercise, and lack of exercise was associated with an increased risk of low back pain. Reducing smoking and increasing exercise in addition to workplace ergonomic intervention may reduce this frequently occurring problem.