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

Introduction: Smoking is prevalent among Filipinos, but little is known about whether this is associated with the rapid decline of the renal function among patients with existing chronic kidney disease (CKD). The purpose of this study is to investigate whether or not there is a direct relationship of smoking to the progression of CKD requiring patient to be on dialysis/renal replacement therapy.

Methods: A cross-sectional, retrospective study design was used. All CKD 5D patients of the Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center (ARMMC) Hemodialysis (HD) Unit in the month of July to August, 2019 were included, if they are > 18yo, regardless of their co-morbidities. Excluded are those with acute kidney injury (AKI), and iatrogenic, surgical or trauma complications that cause renal dysfunction. Charts were reviewed and 55 patients qualified. Smoking status were grouped according to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) smoking definitions, either never, former and current smoker. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) Creatinine were computed using the CKD-Epi formula 3-yr, 2-yr, 1-yr and 0-yr prior to HD. The main outcome measure was whether and what among the smoking status hastens the progression of CKD. Descriptive statistical analyses were done along with one-way variance, two-way variance, and chi-square.

Results: Most of the smokers were males (p < 0.001). Most of the participants had diabetes as the primary illness. All of the participants had same endpoint of having eGFR < 15 at the time of dialysis initiation. There was a significant progressive decrease from eGFR3 to eGFR0 in all smoking status. Current smokers have the highest significant reduction in eGFR (p <0.001).

Conclusion: Smoking hastens the progression of CKD among Filipinos. With that, we support the smoking cessation campaign of the ARMMC and the DOH. In addition, further work up is suggested to determine the primary mechanistic pathway of smoking that affects the renal cells.

PURPOSE: Traffic accidents are one of the major health problems in the world, being the first cause of burden of illness and the second leading cause of death in Iran. The Sistan-Baluchestan province is one of the most accidental provinces of Iran with the highest rate of accidents-caused deaths. This study was conducted to determine the risk factors associated with traffic accidents in Zahedan through 2013 to 2016. METHODS: This analytical cross-sectional study was carried out on 223 drivers from Zahedan who were traumatized by traffic accident and sent to Zahedan hospitals. The data were obtained through interviews taken by the trained interviewers via refereeing to the medical records and collected in the researcher-made checklist. Census was obtained from the study subjects. For data analysis, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Chi-square and logistic regression were used with the Stata software version 11.0. RESULTS: In this study, 223 male subjects with the mean age of (32.54 ± 12.95) years, 39.8% single and 60.2% married, entered for investigation. Most accidents (38.8%) occurred between 12:00 to 17:59. While driving, 47.1% of the study subjects were using cell phones, 89.1% had manual use of mobile phones, 21.9% had a habit of sending short message service (SMS) and 23.4% had sent SMS within 10 min before the accident. The one way analysis of variance showed that the mean age of individuals with marital status, driving experience, education and accident with motorcycle were significantly different (p < 0.05). Also, the multivariate logistic regression test indicated a significant relationship of smoking, ethnicity, insurance and SMS typing while driving with motorcycle accident (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION In this study, SMS and smoking while driving had the highest risk among the variables studied in the motorcycle accidents. Therefore, effective education attempting to enhance people's awareness about the consequences of using cell phone and smoking during driving to reduce traffic accidents seems necessary.
Accidents, Traffic/statistics & numerical data* ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Automobile Driving ; Cause of Death ; Cell Phone Use/adverse effects* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Health Education ; Humans ; Iran/epidemiology* ; Male ; Marital Status ; Middle Aged ; Risk ; Smoking/adverse effects* ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: Korea's population is aging rapidly. Aged people who lead a solitary life are in a state of social isolation and face a greater risk of lower quality of life. The purpose of this study was to analyze the health behaviors and lifestyle patterns of aged people who lead a solitary life in Korea.METHODS: We analyzed 4,471 subjects (1,933 men and 2,538 women)-aged people aged 65 or above-based on data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VI (2013–2015). The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted with age, household income level, occupational status, and geographical region.RESULTS: Socioeconomic status was lower in aged people who lead a solitary life than in those living with family. The ORs for frequent eating out alone (OR=2.93; 95% CI 1.83–4.38), daily eating out alone (OR=2.40; 95% CI 1.25–4.60), smoking (OR=1.57; 95% CI 1.06–2.32), feeling sick or uncomfortable (OR=1.59; 95% CI 1.08–2.36), feeling depressed (OR=4.10; 95% CI 2.53–6.65), and suicide ideation (OR=2.06; 95% CI 1.21–3.51) were significantly higher in male subjects who lead a solitary life. The ORs for frequent eating out alone (OR=1.57; 95% CI 1.10–2.24) and inadequate sleep duration (OR=1.29; 95% CI 1.03–1.61) were significantly higher in female subjects who lead a solitary life.CONCLUSION: Aged people who lead a solitary life exhibited unhealthy behaviors and poor mental health. The elderly men who lead a solitary life faced higher risk of poor health than the women. Integrated management of lifestyle behaviors is required to improve the quality of health in aged people who lead a solitary life.
Aged ; Aging ; Eating ; Employment ; Family Characteristics ; Female ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Korea ; Life Style ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Mental Health ; Nutrition Surveys ; Nutritional Status ; Odds Ratio ; Quality of Life ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Social Class ; Social Isolation ; Suicide

BACKGROUND: Although the prevalence of e-cigarette smoking is increasing worldwide, the harmfulness of e-cigarette is not obvious. A previous study reported that e-cigarette smoking is associated with depressive symptoms in college students irrespective of tobacco smoking. However, there has been no research that has addressed this issue in the general population to date. This study was conducted to clarify the association between e-cigarette smoking and depressive symptoms in Korean adults.METHODS: The cross-sectional study collected raw data from the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016) and included 5,742 adults, who were ≥19 years and responded to the survey of smoking and mental health section. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the odds ratio of depressive symptoms by e-cigarette smoking experience and included sex, age, educational level, marital status, household income level, self-rated health, activity restriction, obesity, tobacco smoking experience, alcohol drinking experience, and stress perception level as covariates. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the patient health questionnaire-9, Korean edition.RESULTS: The rate of depressive symptoms in subjects was 5.6% (n=354) in total. Individuals with depressive symptoms were more likely to have used e-cigarettes (15.6%) than those without depressive symptoms (8.6%; P=0.001). The e-cigarette experienced group showed a higher risk of depressive symptoms (odds ratio, 1.71; 95% confidence interval, 1.004–2.924) than the e-cigarette unexperienced group. The result was adjusted based on the abovementioned covariates.CONCLUSION: In Korean adults, a significant association between e-cigarette smoking experience and depressive symptoms was observed.
Adult ; Alcohol Drinking ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Depression ; Electronic Cigarettes ; Family Characteristics ; Humans ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Marital Status ; Mental Health ; Nutrition Surveys ; Obesity ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Smoke ; Smoking

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have shown that marital status is associated with household composition and living arrangements, which partially explain observed differences in health status according to marital status. However, due to the rapid socioeconomic and demographic transformations of the last few decades, the distribution of marital status among middle-aged adults has become more diverse. Therefore, this study aimed to obtain up-to-date information on the associations between marital status and health and to investigate the implications of these findings for conventional explanations of the health effects of marriage. METHODS: The data for this study were obtained from the 2015 Korean Community Health Study. We compared 4 modifiable lifestyle behaviors—smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and self-rated health status—as outcome variables in association with marital status in Korean middle-aged men (age 40-44) living in Seoul and other regions. RESULTS: Married men showed the lowest cigarette smoking prevalence and the highest subjective health status both before and after adjusting for education and income. The odds of engaging in vigorous physical activity did not show a major difference before and after adjustment for income and education. CONCLUSIONS: In married men, the prevalence of cigarette smoking was lowest and subjective health status was highest, similar to previous studies. However, the prevalence of engaging in physical activity was highest in divorced/widowed/separated men. The health behaviors and health status of Korean middle-aged adults should be more closely followed, since they are representative of demographic changes in the Korean population.
Adult ; Alcohol Drinking ; Diagnostic Self Evaluation ; Education ; Family Characteristics ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Korea ; Life Style ; Male ; Marital Status ; Marriage ; Motor Activity ; Prevalence ; Residence Characteristics ; Seoul ; Smoking

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the effects of socioeconomic factors and psychosocial factors, both individually and combined, on all-cause mortality risk (mortality risk). METHODS: We conducted an 8-year (2006–2014) longitudinal analysis of 10,247 individuals who took part in the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, a nationwide survey of people aged 45–79 years. Socioeconomic vulnerability (SEV) was assessed with factors such as education, household income, commercial health insurance, and residential area. Mental health (MH) was assessed with factors such as depression, social engagement, and life satisfaction. The covariates were age, gender, marital status, cohabiting, number of chronic diseases, and health behaviors such as regular exercise, smoking, and alcohol intake. We used a Cox proportional hazard analysis to investigate the effects of SEV and MH on mortality risk and also to analyze the superimposed effects of SEV-MH on mortality risk. RESULTS: After the controlling for the covariates, high SEV and negative MH were found to be strong predictors of all-cause mortality. The highest quartile of SEV (vs. lowest) had a 1.70 times greater mortality risk (hazard ratio [HR], 1.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.24–2.33) and the highest quartile of MH (vs. lowest) had a 2.13 times greater mortality risk (HR, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.72–2.64). Being in the highest quartile for both SEV and MH (vs. lowest) increased mortality risk more than 3 times (HR, 3.11; 95% CI, 2.20–4.40). CONCLUSION: High SEV and negative MH were independently associated with increased mortality risk, and their superimposed effects were associated with an increased risk of mortality.
Aging ; Chronic Disease ; Depression ; Education ; Family Characteristics ; Health Behavior ; Insurance, Health ; Longitudinal Studies ; Marital Status ; Mental Health ; Mortality ; Psychology ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Socioeconomic Factors

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Aging is an imperative problem for many countries in this century, and presents several challenges for the maintenance of good nutritional status. This study aims to assess the impact of socio-demographic factors, lifestyle and health status on the nutritional status among the elderly in Taiwan. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Taiwan. Data were obtained from the Mei Jau Health Management Institution, which is a private health evaluation provider with multiple health screening centers in Taiwan and Asia. This study included 7947 adults aged 65 years or above. The data were extracted between 2001 to 2010. Nutritional status was assessed using anthropometric data, biochemical data and dietary intake information. RESULTS: Among the 7947 participants with mean age of 70.1 (SD = 4.5) years, 20.2%, 6.6%, 10.5% and 52.5% experienced underweight, protein malnutrition, anemia and inadequate dietary intake in the past month, respectively. Age was negatively correlated with body weight (r = −0.19, P = 0.02), body mass index (r = −0.41, P < 0.001), albumin level (r = −0.93, P < 0.001) and hemoglobin level (r = −0.30, P = 0.008). Age above 70 years, gender, unmarried status, retirement, lack of education, low family income, smoking, alcohol drinking, sleep duration of 6-8 hours, vegetarian diet, multiple medications, comorbidity and dysphagia were positively associated with malnutrition in older adults. CONCLUSIONS: Underweight and inadequate dietary intake are prevalent among the elderly in Taiwan. Vegetarian diet, multiple medications, comorbidity, dysphagia and lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol drinking and sleep duration of 6–8 hours are risk factors for undernutrition in older adults.
Adult ; Aged ; Aging ; Alcohol Drinking ; Anemia ; Asia ; Body Mass Index ; Body Weight ; Comorbidity ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Deglutition Disorders ; Diet ; Diet, Vegetarian ; Education ; Humans ; Life Style ; Malnutrition ; Mass Screening ; Nutritional Status ; Retirement ; Risk Factors ; Single Person ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Taiwan ; Thinness

OBJECTIVES: This study compared the nutritional status of children in low-income households in Indonesia whose fathers were either cigarette smokers or non-smokers. METHODS: A cross sectional study of 482 children aged 2–6 years was conducted, stratified by whether the fathers were non-smoking (n = 138) or smoking (n = 340). Mothers and smoking fathers were interviewed about socioeconomic status and cigarette expenditure, respectively. The nutritional status of children was defined by weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height. RESULTS: Both groups had similar income. Households with a father that smoked, spent 16.6% of their income on cigarettes. Children whose fathers did not smoke had higher height-for-age (−1.99 vs. −2.25 Z-score, p = 0.02) than children whose fathers smoked. Weight-for-age in children with fathers that did not smoke was greater (−1.49 vs. −1.64 Z-score) but not statistically significantly different to those children with fathers that smoked, nor was child weight-for-height (−0.46 vs. −0.45 Z-score). The prevalence of stunted growth was higher in the children with a father that smoked compared with those that had a father did not smoke (62.2 vs. 49.6%, p = 0.07, respectively). There were 28.3% of children underweight in homes where the fathers did not smoke, and 35.6% in households where the father smoked (p = 0.11). Wasting was observed in 4.4% children where fathers did not smoke and 4.7% where fathers did smoke. CONCLUSION: With similar income constraints, the degree of height growth faltering was less in children whose fathers did not smoke, compared to those whose fathers did smoke.
Child ; Family Characteristics ; Fathers ; Growth Disorders ; Health Expenditures ; Humans ; Indonesia ; Mothers ; Nutritional Status ; Prevalence ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Social Class ; Thinness ; Tobacco Products

OBJECTIVES: Harmful alcohol consumption is associated with considerable social and economic damage to individuals and society. Because gender and ethnic background influence alcohol intake differently, examining gender specific factors influencing harmful drinking is necessary. This study investigated gender differences in alcohol consumption, harmful drinking, and the associated factors among Korean adults. METHODS: We analyzed the data from the 2012–2015 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Data from survey participants aged 20–64 years (N = 18,581) were included. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test was used for alcohol dependence, and pooled weights were used. Chi-squared tests and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted. RESULTS: The prevalence of harmful alcohol use (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test score ≥ 16) was 10.7% in the total sample; 18.4% in men and 3.4% in women, which constituted a significant difference. Education, marital status, smoking, perceived stress, and depressive feeling were associated with harmful drinking in both genders. However, household income, occupation, and perceived health status were associated with harmful drinking only in men. CONCLUSION: Since there are gender differences in harmful drinking and alcohol dependence, gender tailored prevention and intervention strategies for alcohol dependence are necessary including consideration of smoking, stress, and depressive feeling.
Adult ; Alcohol Drinking ; Alcoholism ; Depression ; Drinking ; Education ; Family Characteristics ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Marital Status ; Nutrition Surveys ; Occupations ; Prevalence ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Weights and Measures