BACKGROUND

Youth with disabilities (YWDs) in countries like the Philippines face substantial employment barriers. While school-to-work (STW) transition programs and strong family support are crucial for their success, family involvement in planning is often insufficient.

This study aims to explore the perspectives of families of YWDs on STW transition in the Philippines and the differences in perspectives among families from varying socioeconomic backgrounds.

This exploratory-descriptive qualitative study utilized semi-structured interviews with seven primary caregivers of YWDs in Metro Manila, representing diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Thematic analysis was employed.

Three key themes emerged. First, families underscored the value of education in shaping STW transition outcomes, emphasizing its role in building literacy and practical life skills and highlighting the need for improved school support and educator training. Second, significant challenges in accessing support and transition services were reported, with financial constraints in obtaining government aid being a major hurdle regardless of socioeconomic status. Finally, caregivers stressed the family's vital role in transitioning YWDs for adulthood and work, particularly in fostering independence, nurturing strengths, and developing relevant skills for future employment.

This study explored the Filipino families' shared perspectives on STW transition, highlighting the value of education, challenges in accessing support, and the family's role in the transition process. It emphasized the need for accessible and inclusive transition services addressing socioeconomic and cultural factors affecting YWDs and their families. Enhanced stakeholder collaboration is crucial in creating comprehensive and culturally relevant STW services that promote successful workforce integration of YWDs.

INTRODUCTION: Impostor phenomenon (IP) is a set of feelings encountered by individuals of being incompetent, despite experiencing successes. IP affects not only individuals on a personal level, but also organisations where the leadership diversity decreases due to employees' self-doubt. We aim to investigate the prevalence of IP and burnout among employees in the National University Health System (NUHS). METHODS: All permanently employed full-time NUHS employees aged 21 years and above were invited to participate in this self-administered cross-sectional study between April 2021 and August 2021. Mass emails with the embedded study link were sent every 2-3 weeks to the employees' corporate email accounts. RESULTS: In our study, 61% of our study respondents reported having IP experiences and 97% reported having burnout. The associations of IP with ethnicity and age group were significant. Post hoc tests, however, showed that the association was statistically significant only in the 21-29 years age group. CONCLUSION We found that there was no statistical significance between gender and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) profile types. However, we found that IP was significantly associated with individuals in the 21-29 years age group. This could be because younger individuals who just entered workforce may feel uncomfortable with their newfound independence and responsibility. Workplace support, such as workshops, and emotional support were found to be useful in helping individuals cope with IP. Future studies could be done post coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic among healthcare workers to have a larger sample size to determine true IP and burnout prevalence.
Humans ; Singapore/epidemiology* ; Adult ; Male ; Female ; Burnout, Professional/psychology* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Prevalence ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; COVID-19/epidemiology* ; Workplace/psychology*

INTRODUCTION: Workplace safety and health are interrelated - a worker who is not healthy may cause safety lapses at the workplace; conversely, safety lapses could affect the health of the workers. This study was part of a larger Total Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) programme run by the Workplace Safety and Health Council, Singapore. The objectives were to obtain a baseline health profile of workers across four major industries and identify important health risks for targeted workplace interventions. METHODS: Five service providers (SPs) were appointed to run the Total WSH programme. As part of the programme, SPs conducted an anonymous basic health survey among workers of participating companies. RESULTS: The responses of 6,373 respondents from the cleaning, construction, manufacturing, and transport and storage industries were studied. The overall response rate was 62%. Key health issues identified were high rates of obesity (22%) and smoking (24%) and low prevalence of regular exercise and healthy dietary habits. Chronic disease rates were similar to population self-reported rates (hypertension 15%, high lipid 12% and diabetes mellitus 6%). The workers reported high work stress (13%). CONCLUSION Health issues are prevalent in the workforce and may affect work and employee safety. It is increasingly important for employees' health to be considered in risk assessments and prioritised in workplace safety and health management systems and strategies. Health promotion interventions should be targeted, and multilevel and multicomponent initiatives should be integrated with pre-existing occupational safety programmes.
Humans ; Singapore/epidemiology* ; Occupational Health ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Industry ; Workplace ; Health Surveys ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Smoking/epidemiology* ; Obesity/epidemiology* ; Health Status ; Occupational Stress/epidemiology* ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: Menopausal disorders include obscure symptomatology that greatly reduce work productivity among female workers. Quantifying the impact of menopause-related symptoms on work productivity is very difficult because no such guidelines exist to date. We aimed to develop a scale of overall health status for working women in the perimenopausal period. METHODS: In September, 2021, we conducted an Internet web survey which included 3,645 female workers aged 45-56 years in perimenopausal period. We asked the participants to answer 76 items relevant to menopausal symptomatology, that were created for this study and performed exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses for the scale development. Cronbach's alpha, receiver operating characteristic analysis, and logistic regression analysis were used to verify the developed scale. RESULTS: Approximately 85% participants did not have menstruation or disrupted cycles. Explanatory factor analysis using the maximum likelihood method and Promax rotation identified 21 items with a four-factor structure: psychological symptoms (8 items, α = 0.96); physiological symptoms (6 items, alpha = 0.87); sleep difficulty (4 items, alpha = 0.92); human relationship (3 items, alpha = 0.92). Confirmatory factor analyses found excellent model fit for the four-factor model (RMSR = 0.079; TLI = 0.929; CFI = 0.938). Criterion and concurrent validity were confirmed with high correlation coefficients between each of the four factors, previously validated menopausal symptom questionnaire, and Copenhagen Burnout Inventory scales, respectively (all ps < 0.0001). The developed scale was able to predict absenteeism with 78% sensitivity, 58% specificity, and an AUC of 0.727 (95%CI: 0.696-0.757). Higher scores of each factor as well as total score of the scale were more likely to be associated with work absence experience due to menopause-related symptoms even after adjusting for Copenhagen Burnout Inventory subscales (all ps < 0.0001). CONCLUSION We found that the developed scale has high validity and reliability and could be a significant indicator of absenteeism for working women in perimenopausal period.
Humans ; Female ; Perimenopause ; Reproducibility of Results ; Menopause/psychology* ; Workplace ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Psychometrics

Objective: To explore the change of hearing threshold of workers exposed to noise, establish an individual-based hearing loss early warning model, accurately and differentiated the health of workers exposed to noise. Methods: In September 2019, all physical examination data of 561 workers exposed to noise from an enterprise were collected since their employment. Three indicators of average hearing threshold of the better ear, namely, at high frequency, 4000 Hz and speech frequency, were constructed. The generalized estimating equation (GEE) was used to adjust gender and age and establish the warning model of each indicator. Finally, sensitive indicators and warning models were screened according to AUC and Yoden index. Results: Among the 561 workers exposed to noise, 26 (4.6%) workers had hearing loss. The sensitivity indicators were the average hearing threshold at speech frequency ≥20 dB, high frequency ≥30 dB and 4000 Hz ≥25 dB. The AUC of each index was 0.602, 0.794 and 0.804, and the Youden indexes were 0.204, 0.588 and 0.608, respectively. In GEE of hearing loss warning models, high-frequency hearing threshold ≥20 dB and 4000 Hz hearing threshold ≥25 dB were the optimal models, with AUC of 0.862. Conclusion: Combined with the changes of individual hearing threshold over the years, can accurately assess the risk of individual hearing loss of workers exposed to noise.
Humans ; Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced/diagnosis* ; Noise, Occupational/adverse effects* ; Audiometry ; Deafness ; Employment ; Occupational Exposure/adverse effects* ; Occupational Diseases/diagnosis*

Objective: In order to understand the dust concentration in the workplace of dust exposure enterprises in Shenxian. To evaluate the degree of occupational hazard factors of dust exposure enterprises. And provide basis for the formulation of occupational protection standards and management system of dust exposure enterprises. Methods: In February 2022, the dust concentration monitoring data of 89 dust exposure enterprises from 2017 to 2020 by the Shenxian Center for Disease Control and Prevention were collected, and the qualified rates of dust concentration detection of dust exposure enterprises in different years, dust types and enterprise sizes were analyzed. Results: A total of 89 dust enterprises were monitored from 2017 to 2020, 2132 dust samples were collected, and 1818 qualified samples were taken, with a total qualified rate of 85.3%. From 2017 to 2020, the dust detection qualified rates showed a year-by-year increase trend, 78.7% (447/568), 84.1% (471/560), 88.6% (418/472) and 90.6% (482/532), respectively, with statistically significant differences (χ(2)=36.27, P=0.003). The differences in the qualified rates of dust detection samples of silicon dust (66.1%, 41/62), grain dust (86.7%, 1549/1786), cotton dust (84.1%, 106/126) and wood dust (77.2%, 122/158) were statistically significant (χ(2)=29.66, P=0.002). The qualified rate of dust samples in large and medium-sized enterprises (95.1%, 1194/1256) was higher than that of small-sized enterprises (71.2%, 624/876), and the difference was statistically significant (χ(2)=1584.40, P=0.001) . Conclusion: The qualified rate of dust concentration monitoring results of dust exposure enterprises in Shenxian showed an increase trend year by year, while the pualified rate of dust concentration monitoring in small-sized enterprises was low, and the occupational hazard of silica dust was still severe.
Dust ; Silicon ; Wood ; Workplace

Objective: To investigate the level of psychosocial factors in workplace and their health effects among workers in a natural gas field. Methods: A prospective and open cohort of natural gas field workers was established to study the level of workplace psychosocial factors and their health effects, with a follow-up every 5 years. In October 2018, a cluster sampling method was used to conduct a baseline survey of 1737 workers in a natural gas field, including a questionnaire survey on demographic characteristics, workplace psychosocial factors and mental health outcomes, physiological indicators such as height and weight, and biochemical indicators such as blood routine, urine routine, liver function and kidney function. The baseline data of the workers were statistically described and analyzed. The psychosocial factors and mental health outcomes were divided into high and low groups according to the mean score, and the physiological and biochemical indicators were divided into normal and abnormal groups according to the reference range of normal values. Results: The age of 1737 natural gas field workers was (41.8±8.0) years old, and the length of service was (21.0±9.7) years. There were 1470 male workers (84.6%). There were 773 (44.5%) high school (technical secondary school) and 827 (47.6%) college (junior college) graduates, 1490 (85.8%) married (including remarriage after divorce), 641 (36.9%) smokers and 835 (48.1%) drinkers. Among the psychosocial factors, the detection rates of high levels of resilience, self-efficacy, colleague support and positive emotion were all higher than 50%. Among the mental health outcomes evaluation indexes, the detection rates of high levels of sleep disorder, job satisfaction and daily stress were 41.82% (716/1712), 57.25% (960/1677) and 45.87% (794/1731), respectively. The detection rate of depressive symptoms was 22.77% (383/1682). The abnormal rates of body mass index (BMI), triglyceride and low density lipoprotein were 46.74% (810/1733), 36.50% (634/1737) and 27.98% (486/1737), respectively. The abnormal rates of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, uric acid, total cholesterol and blood glucose were 21.64% (375/1733), 21.41% (371/1733), 20.67% (359/1737), 20.55% (357/1737) and 19.17% (333/1737), respectively. The prevalence rates of hypertension and diabetes were 11.23% (195/1737) and 3.45% (60/1737), respectively. Conclusion: The detection rates of high level psychosocial factors in natural gas field workers are high, and their effects on physical and mental health remain to be verified. The establishment of a cohort study of the levels and health effects of psychosocial factors provides an important resource for confirming the causal relationship between workplace psychosocial factors and health.
Humans ; Male ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Natural Gas ; Cohort Studies ; Prospective Studies ; Oil and Gas Fields ; Workplace/psychology* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVES: Health workers are at risk of workplace violence, which can seriously affects their mental health and work status. This study aims to explore the mediating role of depression between workplace violence and job burnout among healthcare workers. METHODS: From January 10 to February 5, 2019, a questionnaire was distributed to frontline healthcare workers through the wenjuanxing platform using convenient sampling (snowball sampling). The questionnaire included the Chinese version of the Workplace Violence Scale, Maslach Burnout Inventory, and Patient Health Questionnaires (PHQ-2). Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and mediation model tests were conducted on the cross-sectional data collection. RESULTS: The study included 3 684 participants, with (31.63±7.69) years old. Among them 2 079(56.43%) were experienced workplace violence, 687(18.65%) were screened positive for depression, and 2 247(60.99%) were experienced high levels of occupational burnout. Correlation analysis showed positive association between workplace violence and depression, workplace violence and occupational burnout, depression and occupational burnout (r=0.135, r=0.107, r=0.335, respectively, all P<0.001). After controlling for covariates, workplace violence had an indirect effect on occupational burnout through depression, with a standardized coefficient of 0.25 (SE=0.02, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.28), accounting for 13.87% of the total effect. CONCLUSIONS The study highlights the close relationship between workplace violence, depression, and occupational burnout among healthcare workers, with depression acting as a mediator between workplace violence and occupational burnout. This study suggests that it is necessary to improve the communication skills of healthcare workers, increase the installation of security systems and emergency plans, use new media platforms to convey positive energy between doctors and patients, and open channels for medical consultation and complaints. It is also necessary to provide guidance for healthcare workers' depressive emotions. Addressing depression among health care workers will help reduce the harm caused by workplace violence, protect the physical and mental health of healthcare workers, and reduce work burnout.
Humans ; Young Adult ; Adult ; Burnout, Professional ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Depression/epidemiology* ; Workplace Violence ; Burnout, Psychological ; Health Personnel

BACKGROUND AND AIM: A healthy work environment is one in which workers and managers cooperate in the process of continuous improvement regarding the protection, and promotion of workers' health and well-being, for the sake of work sustainability. The current state of the art shows that an unfavourable work environment contributes to nurses' dissatisfaction, burnout and emotional exhaustion, and the intention to leave the workplace/service. This study aimed to identify the Nurses' Work Environment in a small Portuguese Hospital, diagnose the situation, and focus on a healthy work environment. METHODS AND MATERIALS: This is a quantitative, descriptive, and cross-sectional study, with a convenience sample of 90 nurses. The “Escala de Ambiente de Trabalho da Prática de Enfermagem” (Nursing Practice Work Environment Scale), validated and adapted by Ferreira & Amendoeira (2014) for the Portuguese population, was applied. The statistical treatment was performed using SPSS 27. RESULTS: The sample is mostly composed of female nurses (87%) with an average age of 26 years, and 75.5% are single. The dimension "Management and Leadership of the Head Nurse" had a mean value of x̅ =3.3 (out of 4) and σ=0.5, which was the dimension with the best assessment. The dimension with less encouraging results was "Nurses' Participation in Hospital Affairs" with x̅ =2.8 (out of 4) and σ=0.7. Overall, all domains assessed had a mean value above 2.5, which was considered a favourable work environment by the nurses. CONCLUSION The results, although generally satisfactory, show the need to carefully intervene and assess each dimension in an integrated perspective, to promote a healthy work environment and workers' well-being, since its imbalance may negatively affect quality of their work, impacting the quality of health care provided to the user . In addition, these results should be understood as an important factor to be considered in the design of future care teams. Regardind future research, it would be important to consider large samples and deepen the topic explored among different departments in the health care facilities.
Nurses ; Workplace ; Health Promotion

Objective: To analyze the status of prevention and treatment of occupational diseases among mining and manufacturing industries in China in 2019, provide the scientific basis for the formulation and revision of policies and standards of prevention and treatment of occupational diseases. Methods: In May 2022, Collecting data of a project named Surveillance of Occupational Hazards in the Workplace in 2019 through the National Surveillance System for Occupational Hazards in the workplace. Compare the status of prevention and treatment of occupational diseases in 63 563 enterprises of mining and manufacturing industries among different dimensions. Results: The training rate of managers was 76.17% and that of occupational health managers was 76.97%. The rate of reporting of occupational diseases hazardous items was 67.58%, the rate of launching of the detection of occupational hazards was 57.16%, and the rate of launching of occupational health examination was 62.42%. Excluding the distribution rate of dust mask, the installation rate of various occupational prevention facilities and the distribution rate of gas mask and hearing protector were less than 80%. The differences in all the indicators among different areas, enterprise scales, economic types were statistically significant (P<0.05) . Conclusion: There are still some enterprises which are relatively weak in the ability of the prevention and treatment of occupational diseases in China. Measures such as special support, guidance and strengthen supervision should be taken towards those enterprises toimprove the awareness of prevention and treatment of occupational diseases and the level of that.
Humans ; Occupational Exposure ; Occupational Diseases/prevention & control* ; Manufacturing Industry ; Workplace ; China/epidemiology* ; Occupational Health