No abstract available.

OBJECTIVES: Several studies have shown that performance related musculoskeletal disorders present a significant and common health problem for instrument players. This study was conducted to investigate the symptom prevalence rate of performance-related musculoskeletal disorders and risk factors on symphony orchestra players. METHODS: The symptom prevalence rate of musculoskeletal disorders and related factors including demographic factors, occupational factors, psychosocial factors, practice and performance-related behaviors of on 156 symphony orchestra players in Taegu city were surveyed with a self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: Instrument players have performed for 14. 6 years in average and worked 4. 9 for years in average as a member of symphony orchestra. The subjects consisted of 106 string players, 48 wind players, and 8 percussion players. The symptom prevalence rate of musculoskeletal disorders according to the NIOSH surveillance criteria was 79. 6 % and operational criteria by authors was 45. 9 %. The prevalence rate of viola players was higher than violin players, and the prevalence rate of the bass players was higher than that of the cello players. In univariate analysis, job insecurity, irregular performance, stress from family problems, and performance related psychosomatic strains had a significant association with the prevalence rate of musculoskeletal disorders. In multiple logistic regression, job insecurity, irregular performance, and stress from family problems were significant variables affecting the prevalence rate of musculoskeletal disorders of instrument players. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggest that symphony orchestra players are high risk group of musculoskeletal disorders. Irregular performance schedule and psychosocial stress including job insecurity, and psychosomatic strain were important risk factors of players musculoskeletal disorders. An exercise program such as stretching before and after performance, regular performance schedule and reduction of psychosocial stress might be helpful for prevention of musculoskeletal disorders of instrument players.
Appointments and Schedules ; Bass ; Daegu ; Demography ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.) ; Percussion ; Prevalence ; Psychology ; Questionnaires ; Risk Factors ; Viola ; Wind

Mercury is atoxic, persistent pollutant that bioaccumulates and biomagnifies through food webs. People are exposed to methylmercury mainly through their diet, especially through the consumption of freshwater and marine fish and of other animals that consumefish (e.g., marinemammals). All humans are exposed to low levels of mercury. Dietary patterns can increase exposure toafish-eating population wherethefish and seafood arecontaminated with mercury. The primary toxicity targets of mercury and mercury compounds are the nervous system, kidneys, and cardiovascular system. It is generally accepted that developing organ systems are most sensitive to the toxic effects of mercury. The fetal-brain mercury levels appear to be significantly higherthan the maternal-blood mercury levels,and the developingcentralnervoussystem of the fetus is currently regarded as the main system of concern as it demonstrates the greatest sensitivity. The subpopulation that may be at greater risk for mercury toxicity are those exposed to higher levels of methylmercury due to carnivorous fish, including sharks.
Animals ; Cardiovascular System ; Diet ; Fetus ; Food Chain ; Fresh Water ; Humans ; Kidney ; Mercury Compounds ; Nervous System ; Seafood ; Sharks

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted in order to evaluate the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related factors in male firefighters in Daegu, Korea. METHODS: A total of 1,261 firefighters from fire stations in Daegu were the subjects of this study. Each firefighter completed a questionnaire on general and occupational matters, experience of traumatic events, and impact of event scale (IES). The IES questionnaire was administered to subjects in order to determine the high risk group for PTSD. We calculated the IES score and determined that an individual was abnormal if the IES score was over 26. RESULTS: The average IES score of the firefighters was 11.0+/-14.3, and the prevalence of high risk firefighters with PTSD was 15.1%. It was found that 40 years of age, fire sergeant, and emergency medical service personnel showed higher prevalence of PTSD than other groups. The most experienced event among traumatic events was 'witness death of victims or patients'. The results of multiple logistic regression analysis for the high risk PTSD group showed that fire sergeant (OR=2.28, 95% CI: 1.28~4.06), fire lieutenant (OR=2.47, 95% CI: 1.14~5.37), fire captain (OR=2.88, 95% CI: 1.11~7.45), firefighting department (OR=2.04, 95% CI: 1.00~4.17), emergency medical service personnel (OR=3.68, 95% CI: 1.47~9.23), total frequency of traumatic events experienced (OR=1.01, 95% CI: 1.00~1.02), and total type of traumatic event experienced (OR=1.35, 95% CI: 1.25~1.46) were significant variables with regards to the reference group (fire fighter and administration department). CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that the prevalence of PTSD in firefighters is higher than that in the general population, and fire sergeant, fire lieutenant, fire captain, emergency medical service personnel, firefighting department, total frequency of traumatic events experienced, and total type of traumatic event experienced were significant variables for the PTSD high risk group.
Emergency Medical Services ; Firefighters ; Fires ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Prevalence ; Questionnaires ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic

An experimental study was performed to investigate. The subjects drank 0.5g/kg ethanol and performed 7 items of SPES(simple reaction time, color word stress, digit classification, finger tapping speed, numerical ability, symbol digit coding, memory digit span). 20 students of medical college participated in the study during August, 1996. After ethanol intake, performance of 4 items(simple reaction time, digit classification, finger tapping speed, symbol digit coding) significantly showed to be decreased. The function of perception - response speed and steady movement were found to be more sensitive to ethanol than that of short - term memory, numerical ability and specification of color. No significant association were found between smoking, alcohol drinking, BMI(body mass index) and the effects of ethanol on neurobehavioral performance.

Diving related disease including decompression sickness is an important occupational health problem and diving fishermen remain a fairly hazardous occupation in Korea. To prevent diving related disease, we investigate diving patterns, incidence of diving related diseases, and contributing factors of 433 diving fishermen of three coast interviewing and mailing questionnaire in 1996. Mean age of divers was 39.7 years, ranged from 24 to 58 years, 92.8% of these were male, and 58.4% of divers were high school graduates. Mean duration of work as a diver was 12.9 years, ranged from 2 to 40 years. It was found that 70.4% of divers were using hookah system, 22.2% of helmet, and only 2.5% SCUBA. About half of them have learned diving skills from other divers. The peak season of diving was from April to June and mean working days were 20.3 days per month during the peak season. On the average, the divers dived 5-6 times, ranged from 1 to 10 times a day with 51.1 minutes of diving time, ranged from 20 to 120 minutes, at 30 m or 40 m in depth, and 35.5 minute of interval on surface. Most divers ascended slowly making decompression stop, yet the decompression profile used was not based on any scientific knowledge except for their own experiences. It appeared that each diving system had slightly different diving patterns. There were 282(65.0%) divers that suffered from DCS in 1995 and 31.2% of divers were given recompression therapy at a medical facility since they worked as diving fishermen. Skin and musculoskeletal complaints were common symptoms of DCS and 39% of divers experienced a voiding difficulty. In univariate analysis, females have an increased frequency of DCS(93% vs 66% for males). Old age, long duration of work, helmet diving, diving time, diving depth, repetitive diving, and blow up were all contributing factors to DCS. It was found that most diving patterns exceed no decompression limit and did not use the standard decompression table. This suggests that most of divers are at high risk of developing diving related disease with prolonged dives and lengthy repetitive diving in deep depth. Considering the diving patterns and economic aspect of professional diving, the incidence of DCS among diving fishermen in Korea will not decrease in the near future. These findings suggest that periodic health surveillance for divers, and education of health and safety are important for reducing the risk of diving related disease in the population of diving fishermen.
Decompression ; Decompression Sickness ; Diving* ; Education ; Female ; Head Protective Devices ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea* ; Male ; Occupational Health ; Occupations ; Postal Service ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Seasons ; Skin

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the mechanisms and exact causes of injuries to children by analyzing the medical records of children who visited emergency medical centers. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 7,114 pediatric patients (aged below 15 years) who visited the emergency care center (ECC) of a Yeungnam university hospital in Daegu between January 2007 and December 2009. RESULTS: Among the pediatric patients who visited the ECC, 1,526 (27.2%) were admitted for injuries (boys, 979 [64.2%] and girls, 547 [35.8%]); the boy-to-girl ratio in this study population was 1.8:1. The proportion of boys was higher than that of girls over all age ranges, except for children aged less than 1 year. The highest incidence of injury due to slipping (20.5%) was noted in the 1-year-old group, and nearly half the total number of cases (49.3%) involved children who were under 4 years of age. Of the sites of injury, 999 involved the head and face (73.7%) and 134 involved the hand and wrist (9.9%). Seventy-one injuries (5.7%) occurred on the bed, 70 (5.6%) at the door, and 67 (5.3%) on the stairs. Of the approximately 250 types of injuries classified by cause, 17 accounted for 50.4% of all the injuries. CONCLUSION: The cause of injury could be attributed to approximately 20 causes in more than half the cases of pediatric injuries. A classification of the types of injuries and the development of appropriate preventive strategies can help avoid such injuries.
Aged ; Child ; Emergencies ; Emergency Medical Services ; Hand ; Head ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Medical Records ; Wrist

OBJECTIVES: Thls study was conducted to select more reliable neurobehavioral tests that are compatible with the characteristlcs of Korean workers and their health management system. METHODS: To compare the reliability of neurobehavioral tests, test and retest of five computerized and five traditional neurobehavioral tests administered to 85 medical school students and 35 hospital workers. The computerized tests include Simple reaction time, Addition, Symbol digit, Digit span, and Finger tapping speed, while the traditional tests include the trenton visual retention test, Digit symbol, Digit span, Pursuit aiming, and Pegboard. RESULTS: Computerized Addition was found to have the highest test-retest reliability (0.90) of and followed by Finger tapping speed (nondominant hand, 0.89, dominant hand, 0.85), Symbol digit(0.82), and Digit span(0.74). Only two traditional tests, Digit symbol(0.86), and Pursuit aiming(0.72), showed test-retest reliability coefficient greater than 0.70. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the computerized Additions, Symbol digit, Fingel tapping speed, and traditional Digit symbol are more satisfactory for our purposes. These results may allow a reasonable selection of the most appropriate tests for periodical evaluation of central nervous system of workers exposed to neurotoxic substances in Korea.
Central Nervous System ; Fingers ; Hand ; Humans ; Korea ; Reaction Time ; Schools, Medical

OBJECTIVES: A cross sectional study was carried out in the welders exposed to manganese and control group. The aim of this study was to assess the adverse effects of manganese on central nervous system of welders. METHODS: The study group consisted of 49 welders and the reference group, 49 workers matched with welders for age and educational level in automobile manufacturing company. Concentration of manganese in welding hume, in blood, and cumulative exposure index(CEI) were determined for each subject. For each group, computerized neurobehavioral test including Simple Reaction Time, Digit Symbol, Digit Span, and Finger Tapping Speed of Swedish Performance Evaluation System were applied. RESULTS: Exposure level of manganese in welders were very low(mean CEI 0.069). Welders exposed to manganese had slower response speed, slower motor steadiness, and shorter memory span than control group. But these differences were not statistically significant. The performance of Finger Tapping Speed tended to lower as environmental and biological exposure index got higher. Other neurobehavioral tests were found to have a little association with the exposure indices. CONCLUSIONS: There was no significant difference of neurobehavioral performance between welders and control group. This study indicates that Finger Tapping Speed measuring motor steadiness might be a one of useful tests for early detection of adverse effects of welding on central nervous system.
Automobiles ; Central Nervous System ; Fingers ; Manganese* ; Memory ; Reaction Time ; Welding

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate effects of lead on the central nervous system of children by measuring blood lead concentration, computerized neurobehavioral function and intelligence of elementary school students. METHODS: The study was conducted with 208 elementary school students living in the vicinity of Pohang Industrial Complex in October and November, 2005. Data on demographic characteristics, living environments and lifestyle habits were collected from subjects. RESULTS: Blood lead levels of elementary school students ranged from 0.76-4.97 microg/dl, which is below the 10 microg/dl recommended level of CDC. The blood lead levels were similar with those reported in other domestic and international studies. Neurobehavioral tests revealed that most third grade students reacted slowly and their speed declined in simple reaction time (p<0.05), choice reaction time (p<0.05), symbol digit substitution (p<0.01), finger tapping speed nondominant hand (p<0.05) as blood lead levels increased. Sixth grade students demonstrated significance in test performance, and displayed blood lead levels of 2.00-4.00 microg/dl. Results of intelligence testing showed significantly low performance in IQ (p<0.05), vocabulary ability (p<0.05), reasoning ability (p<0.05), mathematical ability (p<0.05) and perception ability (p<0.05) among third grade students who displayed high levels of blood lead concentration. Sixth grade students showed significantly low performance in vocabulary ability (p<0.05) at high level of blood lead concentration. The difference in mean IQ scores between the group with blood lead level of < or =2.00 microg/dl and the group with blood lead level > or =3.00 microg/ dl was 3.21 in third grade students and 4.28 in sixth grade students. Low academic achievement was observed among third grade students (p<0.05) and six grade students (p<0.05) as the average blood lead level increased. Correlation analysis on the association of blood lead concentration with neurobehavioral tests revealed a positive correlation between blood lead levels and reaction time of choice reaction time and symbol digit substitution in third grade students. A positive correlation was observed between blood lead levels and reaction time of symbol digit substitution and finger tapping speed in sixth grade students. There was a negative correlation between blood lead levels and reasoning ability of third grade students (r=-0.247) and vocabulary ability of six grade students (r=-0.255). CONCLUSION: There have been few studies on the effects of blood lead on the central nervous systems of children in Korea. The study supports the findings of earlier studies that blood lead has an impact on children. However, the study did not confirm significant association of blood lead concentration with each neurological and motor test conducted for this study due to a small sample size and relatively low blood lead levels of elementary school students. Further studies using a similar assessment methods would be helpful to evaluate the effects of low blood lead levels on the central nervous systems of children.
Achievement ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Central Nervous System ; Child ; Fingers ; Hand ; Humans ; Intelligence ; Intelligence Tests ; Korea ; Life Style ; Perception ; Reaction Time ; Sample Size ; Vocabulary