BACKGROUND: The sleep quality of subway drivers who work in the dark underground with an rotating shift system is generally poor, which can degrade the quality of a worker's life. This study examined the relationship between the sleep quality of subway worker and shift work by comparing three shift systems (rotating shift system, a three day shift system, and no-shift system). METHOD: Questionnaires including The short form of the Korean Occupational Stress Scale (KOSS), Pittsburgh Sleep Questionnaire (PSQI), the worker's age, gender, job type, accident, near miss and shift system were given to a total of 1010 workers. The results of 759 qualified questionnaires (75.15 %) were analyzed using the SPSS (ver 12.0) program. RESULT: The highest level of job stress was found among those working a rotating shift system followed by three shift system and no-shift system. The mean sleep quality score in the rotating shift workers was 5.1 (SD+/-3.2), which was greater than the sleep symptom score (5). 34.8% of rotating shift workers suffered from sleep symptoms. The sleep quality score by shift-work was significantly different. High job demand, strong external locus control, the experience of a near miss or an accident in the workplace during previous year has an adverse affect on the sleep quality. The sleep quality improved in case of a change into a no-shift system or a strong internal locus control. CONCLUSION: A rotating shift system is more harmful to the quality of sleep in subway workers than a 3 shift system or no-shift system. In addition, job stress, personality, near miss and the experience of an accident affect the sleep quality of subway workers.
Questionnaires ; Railroads

No abstract available.
Depression ; Railroads

No abstract available.
Disaster Medicine* ; Disasters* ; Railroads*

Humans ; Occupational Exposure ; Railroads

The rapid development of high-speed railway in China has proposed higher requests for the comfort level of high-speed trains. However, there is no internationally unified evaluation criterion for high-speed train comfort currently, which therefore substantially affects the comparability and standardization of research results for high-speed train comfort. This paper systematically reviews the research literature about evaluation indicators and standards related to high-speed train comfort, and finds that there is currently no unified definition, evaluation indicators, as well as evaluation criterion for high-speed train comfort. Most current evaluation criteria are based on a single indicator. Some indicators are simultaneously developed by different apartments and differ between each other, and there is no comprehensive indicator or criteria for high-speed train comfort, restricting the comparison of high-speed train comfort across regions. It is recommended that the administrative department of high-speed railroad in China should organize experts to establish a unified definition of high-speed train comfort, comprehensive evaluation indicators and relevant judgment criteria for high-speed train comfort, in face of the rapid development and globalization of high-speed trains.
China ; Railroads ; Reference Standards

OBJECTIVE: To test the feasibility of newly developed 3- dimensional virtual reality (VR) program for assessing the post-stroke cognitive dysfunction. METHOD: Thirty five post-stroke patients and twenty normal healthy subjects were recruited in this study, and post-stroke patients were classified into three groups according to the severity of cognitive dysfunction. We developed three dimensional virtual reality program to assess the cognitive function with virtual subway environment from taking a subway to arriving at one's destination. The total score, number of success and cue were obtained during completing virtual tasks. We investigated the test-retest reliability, and the parameters of the 3-dimensional VR program were compared with Korean Mini-mental status examination. RESULTS: All parameters of the VR program were significantly correlated with MMSE score (p<0.01), and showed the significant difference between patient subgroups and control group (p<0.05). The test-retest reliability of the VR program was significantly high (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: Three dimensional virtual reality program may be helpful to assess the cognitive function in patients with stroke.
Cues ; Humans ; Railroads ; Stroke

Data Collection ; Humans ; Lung ; Occupational Exposure ; Railroads

PURPOSE: To understand the meaning of the lived experience with Person under train (PUT) for train or subway operators. METHODS: The study was built on hermeneutic phenomenological themes from individual interviews of present-day train or subway operators in South Korea. Eight participants were selected to participate in the study. All qualitative data were analyzed using the heuristic guides of Van Manen. RESULTS: Four fundamental lifeworld themes and eight sub themes emerged in the findings. The first theme of spatiality had‘the place pressed by the darkness’ and ‘the train drags me there’. The second theme, corporeality had ‘a foreboding fear’, and ‘debris of death that gets stuck in the whole body’. The temporality theme had‘distorted time in chaos’, and ‘memory trapped in time’. Finally the last existential theme of relationality had ‘intrapersonal encounter’ and ‘resentment and guilt’. CONCLUSION: The four existential lifeworld themes provided a framework for in-depth investigation of the operator's “lived experience.” This leads to clear understanding of effects of PUT experience on related individuals. The findings imply that specific active nursing intervention strategies are necessary in order to treat affected train operators, and to prevent further issues in their work and private life.
Hermeneutics ; Heuristics ; Humans ; Korea ; Nursing ; Psychological Trauma ; Qualitative Research ; Railroads

Automobile Driving ; psychology ; Burnout, Professional ; prevention & control ; Emotions ; Humans ; Railroads

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the current status of presenteeism and absenteeism among railroad workers as well as to investigate whether or not job stress level and psychosocial well-being status are associated with presenteeism and absenteeism. METHODS: As the cross-sectional design, a self-reported questionnaire using the Korean Occupational Stress Scale(KOSS), Psychosocial Well-being Index(PWI), and Work Productivity and Impairment-General Health(WPAI-GH) was administered to railroad workers. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to analyze the association between job stress, psychosocial well-being status and presenteeism, absenteeism in 1,099 subjects. RESULTS: Among the study subjects, 52.0% and 22.0% experiened presenteeism and absenteeism, respectively. Job stress level in railroad workers was higher than that in general workers. Multivariate logistic regression with presenteeism as the dependent variable showed an elevated odds ratio of 3.56(95% CI 1.48-8.54) in the highest job stress group, and an odds ratio of 3.20(95% CI 1.94-5.26) in the high-risk psychosocial stress group. There was no significant association between job stress level and absenteeism, whereas weak association between psychosocial stress and absenteeism was found. CONCLUSIONS: Since railroad workers have a high level of job stress and elevated experience of presenteeism, a management strategy is required to control presenteeism and absenteeism in order to promote railroad workers' health and safety.
Absenteeism ; Efficiency ; Logistic Models ; Odds Ratio ; Questionnaires ; Railroads ; Sick Leave