OBJECTIVETo explore depressive symptoms and influencing factors in employees from 13 enterprises.

METHODSA total of 6711 workers from 13 enterprises were investigated by cluster sampling, and data were collected anonymously between November 2008 and June 2009. Job satisfaction, occupational stressors, strains, coping strategy, and social support were measured using occupational stress instruments, job content questionnaire, and effort-reward imbalance questionnaire.

RESULTSMedian and P25~P75 values of depression score were 14 and 9~21, respectively. The depression score of male workers (16.31 ± 10.12) was significantly higher than that of female workers(14.50 ± 9.08) (Z=4.09, P<0.01). The depression score of managers was lowest (12.89 ± 8.70), and the front-line workers scored highest (16.02 ± 9.94), with a significant difference between the two groups (χ² =9.90, P<0.01). The depression score of shift workers (16.79 ± 9.974) was significantly higher than that of non-shift workers (14.81 ± 9.63) (Z=53.43, P<0.01). The depression scores of workers with weekly job times of ≤ 40 h, ~50 h, ~59 h, and ≥ 60 h were (14.70 ± 9.94), (15.76 ± 9.84), (15.46 ± 9.91), and (19.70 ± 10.67), respectively (χ² = 31.79, P <0.01). Correlation analysis revealed that depression score was negatively correlated with the scores of job control (r=-0.236, P <0.01), reward (r=-0.443, P<0.01), job satisfaction (r=-0.418, P<0.01), positive affectivity (r=-0.307, P <0.01), superior support (r=-0.287, P<0.01), colleague support (r=-0.235, P<0.01), and coping strategy (r=-0.208, P<0.01), but positively correlated with the scores of external effort (r=0.225, P<0.01), inherent effort (r=0.248, P<0.01), psychological demands (r = 0.246, P <0.01), physical demands (r=0.246, P<0.01), and negative affectivity (r=0.525, P<0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the risk of depressive symptoms in workers with high negative affectivity was about four times as high as that in workers with low negative affectivity. The risks of depressive symptoms in workers with low reward, having disease in the past six months, and with high inherent effort were 1.62, 1.50, and 1.48 times, respectively, as high as those for their counterparts.

CONCLUSIONOccupational stress, individual factors, health status, and shift work affect the depressive symptoms of workers. Reducing negative affectivity and increasing rewards are main measures to relieve depressive symptoms.

Adaptation, Psychological ; Depression ; epidemiology ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Job Satisfaction ; Male ; Occupational Health ; Social Support ; Stress, Psychological ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Work Schedule Tolerance

Objective:To investigate association between genetic polymorphism in the grainyhead-like 2 gene (GRHL2)and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL)in the Chinese population.Methods:A matched case-control association study was employed,In which,3 790 workers exposed to continuous and steady-state occupational noise in a steel factory participated.The questionnaires were adopted to col-lect individual features and audiometry tests performed.In the sstudy,286 subjects were diagnosed as ca-ses,Which were each designated on the basis of the matched criterion,and 286 paired samples were se-lected finally.Noise intensity was measured according to the standards given in ‘Measurement of Noise in the Workplace’(Occupational Health Standard of the People’s Republic of China,GBZ /T1 89.8 -2007).Cumulative noise exposure (CNE)was calculated,according to monitoring data on A-weighed sound pressure level and employment time.Genomic DNA was obtained from peripheral blood samples using 2 mL DNA extraction Kit following the manufacturer’s protocol.Five single nucleotide polymor-phisms (SNPs)of GRHL2 were genotyped by multiplex SNP genotyping kit.The continuous variables and categorical variables were analyzed by t-test and chi-square test respectively.Multivariate Logistic re-gression was used to test the association between genetic frequency and disease status,with adjustments for the possible confounding variables.The haplotypes were established and their frequencies in the two groups were assessed by haploview and phase softwares.Results:All the five SNPs (rs373571 3, rs3824090,rs373571 4,rs373571 5 and rs61 1 41 9)were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE)(P >0.05).The subjects carrying rs373571 5 GG genotype had a higher NIHL risk than those carrying the GA genotype under the co-dominant model (OR =0.644,95% CI:0.442 -0.939,P =0.022)after ad-justment for height,blood pressure,drinking status and smoking status.After being stratified by CNE,in the CNE ≥ 98 dB (A)group,rs373571 5 polymorphism was associated with the NIHL under the co-dominant model (OR =0.509,95% CI:0.281 -0.923,P =0.026)after adjustment for height,blood pressure,drinking status and smoking status as well.However,no statistical significant difference was found in variant genotypes of the other SNPs between the case and control subjects.Four-locus (rs373571 3,rs3824090,rs373571 4 and rs373571 5)haplotypes were constructed,and no risk or protec-tive haplotypes was identified.Conclusion:It is suggested that GRHL2 polymorphisms may be associated with development of NIHL.

Objective To investigate the factors influencing the electrocardiogram results in the workers exposed to noise in steel-making and steel rolling workshops of an iron and steel plant.Methods From September to December,2013,cluster sampling was used to select 3 150 workers exposed to noise in the steel-making and steel-rolling workshops of an iron and steel plant,and a questionnaire survey and physical examinations were performed.The number of valid workers was 2 915,consisting of 1 606 workers in the steel-rolling workshop and 1 309 in the steel-making workshop.The electrocardiogram results of the workers in steel-making and steel-rolling workshops were analyzed.Results The overall abnormal rate of electrocardiogram was 26.35％,and the workers in the steel-making workshop had a significantly higher abnormal rate of electrocardiogram than those in the steel-rolling workshop (32.24％ vs 21.54％,P＜0.05).Male workers had a significantly higher abnormal rate of electrocardiogram than female workers (27.59％ vs 18.61％,P＜0.05).The workers with a drinking habit had a significantly higher abnormal rate of electrocardiogram than those who did not drink (28.17％ vs 23.75％,P＜0.05).The workers exposed to high temperature had a significantly higher abnormal rate of electrocardiogram than those who were not exposed to high temperature (29.43％ vs 20.14％,P＜ 0.05).The abnormal rates of electrocardiogram in the workers with cumulative noise exposure levels of ＜90,90～ 94,95～99,100～104,and 105～113 Db (A)·year were 21.21％,21.76％,26.50％,27.27％,and 32.16％,respectively,with significant differences between any two groups (P＜0.05).The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that a cumulative noise exposure of 105-113 Db (A) ·year (OR =1.36,95％ CI:1.03～1.80),a drinking habit(OR=1.20,95％ CI:1.01～1.43),and high temperature(OR=1.60,95％ CI:1.32～1.92) were the risk factors for abnormal electrocardiogram results.Conclusion High cumulative noise exposure,alcohol consumption,and high temperature may affect the abnormal rate of electrocardiogram in the workers exposed to noise in steel-making and steel-rolling workshops.

Objective:Through the investigation of the injured persons in explosion accidents, the impact of wearing the ear protectors device (anti-noise earplugs) on the auditory organs and hearing loss of the injured person was understood, which could provide reference for the clinical diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the explosive hearing impairment.Methods:A retrospective survey was conducted on 39 directly injured persons who were injured in 23 explosion accidents involving a steel plant from 1990 to 2016 as the explosive hearing loss, taking the time of the patient＇s injury and 3-6 months after the injury as the time of investigation and evidence collection, and according to whether to wear the ear protectors device for group comparison and statistical analysis.Results:There was no significant difference between the two groups in hearing loss, tinnitus, earache, headache, some patients with dizziness and craniocerebral injury, regardless of whether the injured person wore anti-noise earplugs or not ( P=0.444-1) , the shock (coma) patients in the non-protected group were more common (34.8%, 8/23) , and the difference was statistically significant ( P=0.012) ; Although auricle injury was detected in both groups and there was no significant difference between the two groups ( P=1) , but the external ear canal injury, tympanic membrane perforation were more common in the non-protected group, and there was no external ear canal and tympanic membrane perforation in the wearing earplug group, and the difference between the two groups was significant ( P=0.000) . After 3-6 months, the rehabilitation of auditory system and other symptoms in patients showed that the hearing loss, tinnitus, earache, headache, dizziness and other symptoms all disappeared in patients wearing earplugs, while the above symptoms in the non-protected group were improved but more persisted, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( P=0.000-0.012) , and there was no significant difference in rehabilitation conditions such as craniocerebral injury between the two groups ( P=1) ; There were patients with unhealed auricle injury in both groups in 3-6 months after the injury, and there was no significant difference between the two groups ( P=1) , however, in the non-protected group, 69.57% (16/23) of the patients with external auditory canal injury were still unhealed and none of the patients with tympanic membrane perforation recovered, and the difference between the two groups was obvious ( P=0.000~0.001) ; Pure tone air conduction examination showed that the hearing of the earplugs wearers was well recovered at the time of the explosion, while irreversible hearing impairment was common in the non-protective group, the difference was statistically significant ( P=0.000) . Conclusion:Ear protector plays an important role in protecting the auditory organs and hearing of workers in explosion accident, and it is an effective protective measure to prevent and reduce the damage of external ear canal, perforation of tympanic membrane and explosive hearing loss caused by explosion accidents.

Objective:To investigate the effect of sound insulation improvement on the noise exposure of workers in the operation room of hot rolling line for wide and heavy plate.Methods:From September 2019 to September 2017, based on the occupational health Survey, the data of 25 fixed operation rooms and workers in operation rooms of a steel rolling production line were collected retrospectively, the noise exposure levels before and after the improvement of sound insulation were statistically analyzed.Results:The noise exposure value of the workers, the qualified rate of 0 Grade 8 hours equivalent noise (L EX, 8 h) ≤85 dB (A) and the qualified rate of the design limit value of the operation room were all higher than those before the modification, the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.01) , after the renovation, the Class II and above noise hazards were eliminated, the equivalent continuous a sound level (L Aeq, 8 h) >75 dB (A) of the workers in the operation room was 8h, and the noise level in the operation room still did not meet the Ergonomics limit standard. Conclusion:The improvement of sound insulation can effectively improve the working environment of noise workplace operating room and reduce the workers'noise exposure level.

Objective To investigate the factors influencing the electrocardiogram results in the workers exposed to noise in steel-making and steel rolling workshops of an iron and steel plant.Methods From September to December,2013,cluster sampling was used to select 3 150 workers exposed to noise in the steel-making and steel-rolling workshops of an iron and steel plant,and a questionnaire survey and physical examinations were performed.The number of valid workers was 2 915,consisting of 1 606 workers in the steel-rolling workshop and 1 309 in the steel-making workshop.The electrocardiogram results of the workers in steel-making and steel-rolling workshops were analyzed.Results The overall abnormal rate of electrocardiogram was 26.35％,and the workers in the steel-making workshop had a significantly higher abnormal rate of electrocardiogram than those in the steel-rolling workshop (32.24％ vs 21.54％,P＜0.05).Male workers had a significantly higher abnormal rate of electrocardiogram than female workers (27.59％ vs 18.61％,P＜0.05).The workers with a drinking habit had a significantly higher abnormal rate of electrocardiogram than those who did not drink (28.17％ vs 23.75％,P＜0.05).The workers exposed to high temperature had a significantly higher abnormal rate of electrocardiogram than those who were not exposed to high temperature (29.43％ vs 20.14％,P＜ 0.05).The abnormal rates of electrocardiogram in the workers with cumulative noise exposure levels of ＜90,90～ 94,95～99,100～104,and 105～113 Db (A)·year were 21.21％,21.76％,26.50％,27.27％,and 32.16％,respectively,with significant differences between any two groups (P＜0.05).The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that a cumulative noise exposure of 105-113 Db (A) ·year (OR =1.36,95％ CI:1.03～1.80),a drinking habit(OR=1.20,95％ CI:1.01～1.43),and high temperature(OR=1.60,95％ CI:1.32～1.92) were the risk factors for abnormal electrocardiogram results.Conclusion High cumulative noise exposure,alcohol consumption,and high temperature may affect the abnormal rate of electrocardiogram in the workers exposed to noise in steel-making and steel-rolling workshops.

Objective:Through the investigation of the injured persons in explosion accidents, the impact of wearing the ear protectors device (anti-noise earplugs) on the auditory organs and hearing loss of the injured person was understood, which could provide reference for the clinical diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the explosive hearing impairment.Methods:A retrospective survey was conducted on 39 directly injured persons who were injured in 23 explosion accidents involving a steel plant from 1990 to 2016 as the explosive hearing loss, taking the time of the patient＇s injury and 3-6 months after the injury as the time of investigation and evidence collection, and according to whether to wear the ear protectors device for group comparison and statistical analysis.Results:There was no significant difference between the two groups in hearing loss, tinnitus, earache, headache, some patients with dizziness and craniocerebral injury, regardless of whether the injured person wore anti-noise earplugs or not ( P=0.444-1) , the shock (coma) patients in the non-protected group were more common (34.8%, 8/23) , and the difference was statistically significant ( P=0.012) ; Although auricle injury was detected in both groups and there was no significant difference between the two groups ( P=1) , but the external ear canal injury, tympanic membrane perforation were more common in the non-protected group, and there was no external ear canal and tympanic membrane perforation in the wearing earplug group, and the difference between the two groups was significant ( P=0.000) . After 3-6 months, the rehabilitation of auditory system and other symptoms in patients showed that the hearing loss, tinnitus, earache, headache, dizziness and other symptoms all disappeared in patients wearing earplugs, while the above symptoms in the non-protected group were improved but more persisted, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( P=0.000-0.012) , and there was no significant difference in rehabilitation conditions such as craniocerebral injury between the two groups ( P=1) ; There were patients with unhealed auricle injury in both groups in 3-6 months after the injury, and there was no significant difference between the two groups ( P=1) , however, in the non-protected group, 69.57% (16/23) of the patients with external auditory canal injury were still unhealed and none of the patients with tympanic membrane perforation recovered, and the difference between the two groups was obvious ( P=0.000~0.001) ; Pure tone air conduction examination showed that the hearing of the earplugs wearers was well recovered at the time of the explosion, while irreversible hearing impairment was common in the non-protective group, the difference was statistically significant ( P=0.000) . Conclusion:Ear protector plays an important role in protecting the auditory organs and hearing of workers in explosion accident, and it is an effective protective measure to prevent and reduce the damage of external ear canal, perforation of tympanic membrane and explosive hearing loss caused by explosion accidents.

Objective:To investigate the effect of sound insulation improvement on the noise exposure of workers in the operation room of hot rolling line for wide and heavy plate.Methods:From September 2019 to September 2017, based on the occupational health Survey, the data of 25 fixed operation rooms and workers in operation rooms of a steel rolling production line were collected retrospectively, the noise exposure levels before and after the improvement of sound insulation were statistically analyzed.Results:The noise exposure value of the workers, the qualified rate of 0 Grade 8 hours equivalent noise (L EX, 8 h) ≤85 dB (A) and the qualified rate of the design limit value of the operation room were all higher than those before the modification, the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.01) , after the renovation, the Class II and above noise hazards were eliminated, the equivalent continuous a sound level (L Aeq, 8 h) >75 dB (A) of the workers in the operation room was 8h, and the noise level in the operation room still did not meet the Ergonomics limit standard. Conclusion:The improvement of sound insulation can effectively improve the working environment of noise workplace operating room and reduce the workers'noise exposure level.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the prevalence and influence factors of hypertension among the workers exposed to noise in steel making and steel rolling workshop of an iron and steel plant.

METHODSUsing cluster sampling method, 3 150 workers exposed to noise participated in this study. According to do questionnaire survey and blood pressure measurement, 2 924 workers were tested, among which 1 313 workers were from steel making workshop and 1 611 workers were from steel rolling workshop. The relationships between different demographic characteristics, different habits, and different cumulative noise exposures of workers exposed to noise and hypertension were analyzed.

RESULTSFor the hypertension prevalence rate, the total prevalence rate was 27.43% (802/2 924), the male was higher than the female (29.88 % (753/2 520) vs 12.13% (49/404), χ² = 55.13, P < 0.001), married ones were higher than the unmarried (29.84% (718/2 406) vs 16.22% (84/518), χ² = 39.76, P < 0.001), the smoking subjects were higher than the no smoking (30.31% (438/1 445) vs 24.61% (364/1 479), χ² = 11.93, P = 0.001), drinking ones were higher than the no drinking (31.53% (541/1 716) vs 21.61% (261/1 208), χ² = 35.05, P < 0.001). The hypertension prevalence rates among the subjects with education background in junior high school and below, high school (secondary) and university and above were separately 44.96%(125/278), 29.95%(455/1 519) and 19.70%(222/1 127) (χ² = 81.65, P < 0.001), among cumulative exposure groups 77-89, 90-94, 95-99, 100-104 and 105-113 were separately 8.43% (14/166), 14.48% (53/366), 24.28% (297/1 223), 36.65% (335/914) and 40.39%(103/255) (χ² = 127.58, P < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that workers who exposed to cumulative noise in 95-99, 100-104 and 105-113 dB(A) ·year had the higher risk of hypertension, the OR (95%CI) were 1.84 (95% CI: 1.35-2.51), 1.74 (95% CI: 1.24-2.45) and 1.68 (95% CI: 1.09-2.58). Drinking (OR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.32-1.95) and BMI ≥ 24.0 kg/m² (OR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.22-1.30) were the risk factors for hypertension as well.

CONCLUSIONCumulative noise exposure, alcohol consumption and above normal BMI may affect the hypertension prevalence rate of the workers exposed to noise.

Alcohol Drinking ; Animals ; Demography ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Iron ; Male ; Noise ; Occupational Exposure ; Overweight ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Smoking ; Steel ; Surveys and Questionnaires