A systematic review of working conditions and occupational health among immigrants in Europe and Canada.

BACKGROUND: A systematic attempt to summarize the literature that examines working conditions and occupational health among immigrant in Europe and Canada. METHODS: We established inclusion criteria, searched systematically for articles included in the Medline, Embase and Social Sciences Citation Index databases in the period 2000-2016 and checked the reference lists of all included papers. RESULTS: Eighty-two studies were included in this review; 90% were cross-sectional and 80% were based on self-report. Work injuries were consistently found to be more prevalent among immigrants in studies from different countries and in studies with different designs. The prevalence of perceived discrimination or bullying was found to be consistently higher among immigrant workers than among natives. In general, however, we found that the evidence that immigrant workers are more likely to be exposed to physical or chemical hazards and poor psychosocial working conditions is very limited. A few Scandinavian studies support the idea that occupational factors may partly contribute to the higher risk of sick leave or disability pension observed among immigrants. However, the evidence for working conditions as a potential mediator of the associations between immigrant status and poor general health and mental distress was very limited. CONCLUSION: Some indicators suggest that immigrant workers in Europe and Canada experience poorer working conditions and occupational health than do native workers. However, the ability to draw conclusions is limited by the large gaps in the available data, heterogeneity of immigrant working populations, and the lack of prospectively designed cohort studies.

Dermatosis profesionales. Adaptación transcultural del cuestionario Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire (NOSQ-2002) del inglés al castellano y al catalán / Occupational Dermatoses. Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire (NOSQ-2002) from English to Spanish and Catalan

Antecedentes. El eccema de las manos y la urticaria son dermatosis profesionales muy frecuentes. El cuestionario NOSQ (Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire) fue creado en inglés como herramienta imprescindible para la investigación de enfermedades cutáneas de origen laboral. La versión corta del cuestionario es útil para el rastreo y la versión larga es una herramienta de investigación de los factores de riesgo. Objetivo. Adaptación transcultural de la versión larga del cuestionario NOSQ al castellano y al catalán para garantizarla claridad en la comprensión, la corrección semántica y la equivalencia respecto a la versión original. Métodos. Principios de buena práctica de la International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Metodología en 4 fases basada en la traducción directa consensuada, la retrotraducción y las entrevistas cognitivas. Resultados. Tras la traducción directa e independiente del cuestionario, el Grupo de Trabajo Español emitió una primera versión que fue sometida a entrevistas cognitivas. Se modificaron 39 cuestiones (68 %) en la versión castellana y 27 (47 %) en la versión catalana. Los cambios consistieron en la adición de ejemplos para mejorarla comprensión, la reformulación de instrucciones, el cambio al uso de un formato directo de pregunta y la adición de ciertas definiciones. La retrotraducción fue valorada por los autores originales, incorporándose 7 cambios en la versión castellana y 2 en la catalana. La tercera versión consensuada fue sometida a un segundo turno de entrevistas cognitivas. Se emitió posteriormente la versión definitiva. Conclusión. Las versiones en castellano y catalán del cuestionario NOSQ-2002 están disponibles en www.ami.dk/NOSQ y www.arbejdsmiljoforskning.dk (AU)

Background. Eczema of the hands and urticaria are very common occupational dermatoses. The Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire (NOSQ-2002), developed in English, is an essential tool for the study of occupational skin diseases. The short version of the questionnaire is useful for screening and the long version is used to study risk factors. Objective. The aim of this study was to culturally adapt the long version of the NOSQ to Spanish and Catalan and to ensure comprehension, semantic validity, and equivalence with the original. Methods. The principles of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research for good research practices were applied. A 4-phase method was used, with direct, revised translation, back translation, and cognitive interviews. Results. After direct translation, a first version was issued bythe Spanish Working Group. This version was evaluated in cognitive interviews. Modifications were made to 39 questions (68 %) in the Spanish version and 27 questions (47 %) in the Catalan version. Changes included addition of examples to improve understanding, reformulation of instructions, change to use of a direct question format, and addition of certain definitions. The back translation was evaluated by the original authors, leading to a further 7 changes in the Spanish version and 2 in the Catalan version. The third consensus version underwent a second round of cognitive interviews, after which the definitive version in each language was issued. Conclusion. Spanish and Catalan versions of the NOSQ-2002 questionnaire are available at www.ami.dk/NOSQ and www.arbejdsmiljoforskning.dk (AU)

Experiences with implementation of evidence-based prevention programs to prevent occupational skin diseases in different occupations.

Occupational skin diseases are among the most frequently recognized occupational diseases in many industrialized countries. This paper describes and review experiences with implementation of interventions to prevent occupational skin diseases in different occupational settings representing the food processing industry and a hospital. The study populations were gut cleaners with all participants being exposed to wet work, cheese dairies and a hospital where all employees were included. The effect of implementation of evidence-based prevention programs were tested by questionnaire surveys on baseline and follow-up. A significant reduction in eczema at hands or forearms was observed among gut cleaners. At cheese dairies the eczema frequencies were low except for a comparison dairy where significant changes were seen. At the hospital a non significant reduction in hand eczema was observed. Changes related to use of protective measures and knowledge on prevention of occupational skin diseases were observed. A process evaluation carried out at the gut cleaning departments showed association between the eczema frequency at follow-up, activities related to prevention and implementation of an occupational health management system. In addition to documenting the scientific background for evidence-based prevention programs to prevent occupational skin diseases in different occupations, both the study population and the study design should be considered carefully when testing the implementation of workplace interventions. These aspects may influence the outcome in different directions and either facilitate or hamper the possibilities to provide scientific documentation of the effect of the intervention tested.

A randomised controlled intervention study on prevention of work related skin problems among gut cleaners in swine slaughterhouses.

AIMS: To evaluate the effect of an intervention to reduce work related skin problems in gut cleaning departments in Danish swine slaughterhouses. The intervention consisted of an evidence based prevention programme and a documented method for implementation. METHODS: Randomised controlled intervention study with a one year follow up. The intervention included educational activities and evidence based recommendations. The effect of the intervention was evaluated by telephone interviews using a standardised questionnaire based on the Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire (NOSQ-2002) with modified and additional questions on exposure, preventive measures, information, and discussions on prevention of skin problems, etc. RESULTS: A total of 644 (87.5%) responded at the baseline interview and 622 (71.6%) at the one year follow up interview. A total of 495 participated in both interviews (67.3%). In the intervention departments the frequency of eczema on hands or forearms within the past three months at follow up was reduced significantly from 56.2% at baseline to 41.0% at follow up, while a slight non-significant increase was observed in the comparison departments (from 45.9% to 50.2%). The intervention activities resulted in more frequent use of protective gloves in general and the use of cotton gloves worn underneath rubber and plastic gloves. At follow up three times as many in the intervention departments used the recommended high fat skin care products introduced as part of the intervention activities. At follow up, discussion of skin problems was increased in the intervention group while no changes were observed in the comparison group. CONCLUSIONS: A significant 27% relative reduction of occupational eczema in a high risk group was feasible through implementation of an evidence based prevention programme.

Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire (NOSQ-2002): a new tool for surveying occupational skin diseases and exposure.

Occupational skin diseases are among the most frequent work-related diseases in industrialized countries. Good occupational skin disease statistics exist in few countries. Questionnaire studies are needed to get more data on the epidemiology of occupational skin diseases. The Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire Group has developed a new questionnaire tool - Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire (NOSQ-2002) - for surveys on work-related skin disease and exposures to environmental factors. The 2 NOSQ-2002 questionnaires have been compiled by using existing questionnaires and experience. NOSQ-2002/SHORT is a ready-to-use 4-page questionnaire for screening and monitoring occupational skin diseases, e.g. in a population or workplace. All the questions in the short questionnaire (NOSQ-2002/SHORT) are included in the long version, NOSQ-2002/LONG, which contains a pool of questions to be chosen according to research needs and tailored to specific populations. The NOSQ-2002 report includes, in addition to the questionnaires, a comprehensive manual for researchers on planning and conducting a questionnaire survey on hand eczema and relevant exposures. NOSQ-2002 questionnaires have been compiled in English and translated into Danish, Swedish, Finnish and Icelandic. The use of NOSQ-2002 will benefit research on occupational skin diseases by providing more standardized data, which can be compared between studies and countries.