This study aimed to evaluate the relationship of sweet taste perception with overweight and obesity among workers in some industrial areas. Participants were 63 workers (mean age: 57.8±7.8 years), who were divided into three subgroups based on sweet taste evaluation using a sweet taste assessment tool provided by Ministry of Food and Drug Safety: unsweet group (n=25), medium sweet group (n=27), and sweet group (n=11). There was no significant difference in body mass index (BMI), and any work-related variables among the three groups; however, the difference between subjective perception and objective perception for sweet tastes is statistically different. We also found slight or fair agreement between subjective and objective sweet taste perception of the subjects (weighted kappa value 0.34~0.43). The present study provided measuring objective sweet taste perception may be useful for assessing the risk of high sugar consumption and for improving undesirable dietary behaviors, and management of non-communicable disease among workers.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have reported negative psychological or physical effects of emotional labor. Relationship between work-related musculoskeletal disorder and psychosocial factors has been reported. To manage organizational and psychosocial factors of musculoskeletal disorder with work place intervention among emotional laborers, the factors contributing to musculoskeletal pain must be identified and clarified. METHODS: Data from the fourth Korean Working Conditions Survey was analyzed. Based on the questionnaire, we selected emotional laborers and included 3,979 participants, excluding participants whose variables were of interest to the researcher. Weight variable was applied. The association with musculoskeletal pain and psychosocial factors, such as workload, monotonous work, job control, social support, and job satisfaction, was investigated. RESULTS: Univariate analysis demonstrated that there was a statistically significant relationship between social support, job satisfaction, and musculoskeletal pain. In multivariate analysis, job satisfaction showed a strong correlation with musculoskeletal pain at all sites. Social support was significantly associated with backache. Monotonous work seemed to reduce the pain in the neck and/or upper limbs. Job control and work intensity were not significantly associated with musculoskeletal pain. CONCLUSION: In this study, job satisfaction was significantly associated with musculoskeletal pain, and social support among the social psychological stressors could reduce musculoskeletal pain. However, unlike previously known, the presence of monotonous work resulted in reduced musculoskeletal pain. The results of this study will help to establish the direction of improvement of atmosphere in the workplace to prevent the musculoskeletal pain of emotional laborers.
Atmosphere ; Back Pain ; Job Satisfaction ; Multivariate Analysis ; Musculoskeletal Pain* ; Neck ; Psychology* ; Psychosocial Deprivation ; Social Control, Formal ; Stress, Psychological ; Upper Extremity ; Workplace

BACKGROUND: Korea has shown a rapid pace of aging and has become an aged society in a shorter period than Western countries. Therefore, it is important that middle-aged workers maintain their ability to work in the industrial field at the maximum level while maintaining their health. The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors affecting work ability and to use this data to maintain the working ability of middle-aged workers in the future.METHODS: From 2015 to 2017, we surveyed 371 street cleaners who visited a health center for health promotion in a metropolitan city. The relationship between the general characteristics of the survey subjects and the Work Ability Index (WAI) was confirmed by a univariate analysis. Statistically significant (p<0.2) factors were selected and a multiple linear regression analysis was conducted with WAI scores as a dependent variable.RESULTS: Age, body mass index, body fat percentage, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Korea (AUDIT-K) scores, the Psychosocial Well-Being Index-Short Form (PWI-SF) scores, maximal oxygen consumption (VO(2max)), and hypertension showed statistically significant correlations with the WAI in the univariate analysis. In the multivariate analysis, the VO(2max), AUDIT-K scores, and PWI-SF scores were included in the regression equation. VO(2max) had the greatest effect on the standardization coefficient indicating the relative contribution of independent variables, followed by the AUDIT-K scores and the PWI-SF scores.CONCLUSION: Programs to increase workers’ physical work ability and alleviate psychosocial stress and drinking habits should be developed and implemented in the future.
Adipose Tissue ; Aging ; Body Mass Index ; Drinking ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Linear Models ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Oxygen Consumption ; Physical Endurance

BACKGROUND: Noise-induced hearing loss is an occupational disease, and workplace noise exposure is a major hazard in Korea. Although hearing protectors effectively reduce a worker's exposure to noise, their success is compromised by the wearer's inability to fit the protectors correctly, and there are no proper training methods for using hearing protectors in small-scale industries. This study aims to evaluate the effect of earplug training on hearing protection using field microphone-in-real-ear (F-MIRE) and prevent noise-induced hearing loss. METHODS: The study population comprised 172 noise-exposed manufacturing workers who visited occupational health facilities in Daegu, South Korea, between July 2014 and September 2017. Personal attenuation ratings (PARs) were calculated with F-MIRE. Paired t-tests were used to compare the differences in PAR (dB) before and after training, and generalized estimating equations (GEEs) were used to compare the differences in PAR according to the number of trainings. RESULTS: Mean PARs increased after the first and second training, and the differences were statistically significant. Among the 30 participants who received all 4 trainings, PARs were significantly higher after each training than before the training. As the number of training increased, the differences in PARs significantly increased. When comparing pretraining PARs for each training session, we found statistically significant differences between the first and second training and between the second and third training, but not between the third and fourth training. CONCLUSION In this study, the short- and long-term effects of earplug training were statistically significant. In particular, the PAR before and after the fourth training showed the greatest increase, and the PARs continued to increase during each training.

BACKGROUND: Korea has shown a rapid pace of aging and has become an aged society in a shorter period than Western countries. Therefore, it is important that middle-aged workers maintain their ability to work in the industrial field at the maximum level while maintaining their health. The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors affecting work ability and to use this data to maintain the working ability of middle-aged workers in the future. METHODS: From 2015 to 2017, we surveyed 371 street cleaners who visited a health center for health promotion in a metropolitan city. The relationship between the general characteristics of the survey subjects and the Work Ability Index (WAI) was confirmed by a univariate analysis. Statistically significant (p<0.2) factors were selected and a multiple linear regression analysis was conducted with WAI scores as a dependent variable. RESULTS: Age, body mass index, body fat percentage, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Korea (AUDIT-K) scores, the Psychosocial Well-Being Index-Short Form (PWI-SF) scores, maximal oxygen consumption (VO(2max)), and hypertension showed statistically significant correlations with the WAI in the univariate analysis. In the multivariate analysis, the VO(2max), AUDIT-K scores, and PWI-SF scores were included in the regression equation. VO(2max) had the greatest effect on the standardization coefficient indicating the relative contribution of independent variables, followed by the AUDIT-K scores and the PWI-SF scores. CONCLUSION Programs to increase workers’ physical work ability and alleviate psychosocial stress and drinking habits should be developed and implemented in the future.

BACKGROUND: Using analysis of air samples from the workplace, we report on one case of pneumoconiosis in an individual who has been working in a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) spraying process for 28 years. CASE PRESENTATION: The patient was diagnosed with granulomatous lung disease caused by PTFE using computed tomography (CT), lung biopsy and electron microscopy. To assess the qualitative and quantitative exposure to PTFE in workplace, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were performed on air samples from the workplace. The presence of PTFE particles was confirmed, and the airborne concentration of PTFE was estimated to be 0.75 mg/m3. CONCLUSIONS: This case demonstrates that long-term exposure to PTFE spraying can cause granulomatous lung lesions such as pneumoconiosis; such lesions appear to be caused not by the degradation products of PTFE from high temperatures but by spraying the particles of PTFE. Along with air-sampling analysis, we suggest monitoring the concentration of airborne PTFE particles related to chronic lung disease.
Biopsy ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Lung ; Lung Diseases ; Microscopy, Electron ; Occupational Diseases ; Pneumoconiosis ; Polytetrafluoroethylene ; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared ; Spectrum Analysis