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Postural assessment in pen-and-paper-based observational methods and their associated health effects: a review

Sukadarin EH, Deros BM, Ghani JA, Mohd Nawi NS, Ismail AR

Int J Occup Saf Ergon, 2016 Sep;22(3):389-98.
PMID: 27173135 DOI: 10.1080/10803548.2016.1156924

INTRODUCTION: This review describes standardized ergonomics assessment based on pen-and-paper observational methods for assessing ergonomics risk factors.
OBJECTIVE: The three main objectives are to analyze published pen-and-paper observational methods, to extract and understand the risk levels of each method and to identify their associated health effects.
METHODOLOGY: The authors searched scientific databases and the Internet for materials from 1970 to 2013 using the following keywords: ergo, posture, method, observational, postural angle, health effects, pain and diseases. Postural assessments of upper arms, lower arms, wrists, neck, back and legs in six pen-and-paper-based observational methods are highlighted, extracted in groups and linked with associated adverse health effects.
RESULTS: The literature reviewed showed strengths and limitations of published pen-and-paper-based observational methods in determining the work activities, risk levels and related postural angles to adverse health effects. This provided a better understanding of unsafe work postures and how to improve these postures.
CONCLUSION: Many pen-and-paper-based observational methods have been developed. However, there are still many limitations of these methods. There is, therefore, a need to develop a new pen-and-paper-based observational method for assessing postural problems.

Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/prevention & control
Commentary: paramyxoviruses, pigs and abattoirs

Bellini WJ

Int J Epidemiol, 2001 Oct;30(5):1020-1.
PMID: 11689514
Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/epidemiology*
Fulltext Work related upper limb disorders in telecommunication workers in Malaysia

Premalatha GD, Noor Hassim I

Med J Malaysia, 1999 Jun;54(2):247-56.
PMID: 10972037

A total of 323 workers from 5 different occupational groups in the telecommunication industry were studied in this cross sectional study, which sought to determine the prevalence of Work Related Upper Limb Disorders (WRULD) in 5 occupational groups; operators using the Video Display Terminals, switchboard operators, clerks, data entry processors and the supervisors. WRULD was also studied with regard to factors such as sex, race, height, age, stress and the discomfort perceived due to the work station design. The possibility of WRULD was determined from a self-administered questionnaire and confirmed by history and physical examination. Psychological stress and the discomfort due to the workstation were measured from the questionnaire. The overall prevalence was found to be 31.2% and the prevalence among the various occupations differed with it being the highest in the switchboard operators and data processors and the lowest in the supervisors. The older workers and the female workers were found to have higher prevalences of WRULD. It was also found that a higher stress score and a higher score of discomfort perceived at the work station were associated with higher prevalences of WRULD.

Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/epidemiology*
Fulltext Relationship of stress, experienced by rescue workers in the highland towers condominium collapse to probable risk factors--a preliminary report

Saroja KI, Kasmini K, Muhamad S, Zulkifli G

Med J Malaysia, 1995 Dec;50(4):326-9.
PMID: 8668051

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the level of stress experienced by rescue workers after the collapse of a 13 story condominium in Kuala Lumpur, and other probable risk factors. Within a month of the incident, 123 firefighters filled up the Impact of Life Event score (Horowitz) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). The results indicated that 7 (6%) firemen could be classified as possible 'cases' on the GHQ, and significantly 5 from this group also scored highly on the impact of events score. No other risk factors were identified in the firemen. On conclusion, the GHQ can be used to screen those with high impact scores to pick up possible cases early enough, so that intervention can be successful.

Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/etiology*
Fulltext The significance of aches/pains among workers in an electronics factory

Ho SF, Phoon WH

Med J Malaysia, 1997 Jun;52(2):134-8.
PMID: 10968070

Three hundred and fifteen female workers with at least three months' employment history in a factory manufacturing disk drives were studied. Each worker completed a self-administered questionnaire on their personal particulars, hours of work, opinion on the work and the workplace and the presence and severity of aches/pains experienced over the past one month. One hundred and forty one (44.8%) of the workers had complaints of aches/pains. Of these, 81 (57.5%) reported an improvement in their symptoms during their off-days. 59 (41.8%) had symptoms affecting two or more sites. The most commonly affected sites were the hands and shoulders, followed by the head and back. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of symptoms between workers from the different work stations. Ninety four (66.7%) of these workers reported that the pains that were severe enough to affect their activities. 76 (53.9%) had to seek some form of medical treatment while 33 (23.4%) had to be on medical leave. However, the physical examinations of this group of workers were normal. The symptoms appeared to be influenced by their attitude towards work. A significantly higher number of workers with symptoms expressed dissatisfaction with work and had complaints of a noisy and cold environment. The study showed that workers' morale and the quality of the work environment may play an important role in improving their general well-being.

Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/epidemiology*
Fulltext Occupational diseases in Malaysia: the need for better notification

Lim HH

Med J Malaysia, 1982 Jun;37(2):98-101.
PMID: 7132840
Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/epidemiology*
Fulltext Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and related occupational causative factors among electricity linemen: A narrative review

Padmanathan V, Joseph L, Omar B, Nawawi R

Int J Occup Med Environ Health, 2016;29(5):725-34.
PMID: 27518883 DOI: 10.13075/ijomeh.1896.00659

Occupational tasks of linemen are highly associated with the development of work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMDs). Although linemen are prone to develop WRMDs, there is paucity of information on the prevalence of WRMDs and related occupational causative factors. Therefore, the present review was conducted to report on the prevalence of WRMDs and to outline causative risk factors within occupational tasks in the lineman profession. Literature search was conducted in various databases such as Scopus, PubMed and ScienceDirect for articles published between 1996-2013. The articles were analyzed, selected and retrieved based on predetermined objectives, inclusion criteria and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). In the review process only articles published in English were considered. The review identified moderate to high prevalence of WRMDs among the linemen population. Back and shoulder regions were highly affected compared to the other body regions. The review also reported occupational tasks such as bar installation, insulator fixation and manual handling of tools as high risk tasks that lead to the development of WRMDs. In addition, occupational tools such as ladders, manual cutters and manual presses were also identified as a potential ergonomic hazard. In conclusion, the current review identified that WRMDs are common in the back and shoulder regions among linemen. Also, a number of occupational risk factors were identified to be associated with WRMDs among the linemen. Hence, future research on prevention and intervention studies concerning lineman profession population in order to develop a good job practice are recommended. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2016;29(5):725-734.

Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/epidemiology*
Personnel exposure during cerebral angiography

Lam ES

Med J Malaysia, 1979 Dec;34(2):171-3.
PMID: 548723
Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/prevention & control*
Occupational distribution of leptospiral (SEL) antibodies in West Malaysia

Tan DS

Med J Malaysia, 1973 Jun;27(4):253-7.
PMID: 4270781
Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/epidemiology*
Preventive ophthalmology

Singh A

Med J Malaysia, 1977 Sep;32(1):45-7.
PMID: 609343
Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/prevention & control
Industrial development and health in Malaysia

Chan WK

Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health, 1979 Dec;10(4):650-5.
PMID: 538514

Industrial development in Malaysia is discussed in relation to impact on health. Trends in Malaysia are evaluated and the findings of some studies in Malaysia are reviewed.

Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/epidemiology
Fulltext Effect of working characteristics and taught ergonomics on the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders amongst dental students

Khan SA, Chew KY

BMC Musculoskelet Disord, 2013;14:118.
PMID: 23547959 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2474-14-118

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are one of the main occupational health hazards affecting dental practitioners. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorder (WMSD) amongst dental students. Possible correlations with the working environment and ergonomics taught in Malaysian dental schools were also sought.

Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/epidemiology*; Occupational Diseases/physiopathology; Occupational Diseases/prevention & control*
Psychological morbidities amongst house officers in Sarawak General Hospital Kuching

Yeoh CM, Thong KS, Seed HF, Nur Iwana AT, Maruzairi H

Med J Malaysia, 2019 08;74(4):307-311.
PMID: 31424038

INTRODUCTION: Psychological morbidities are common amongst healthcare professionals particularly among junior house officers (HO) who are in a transitional stage from being a medical student to a doctor. They undergo many stressors during this period and hence might suffer from higher psychological morbidities such as depression, anxiety and stress.
OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among HO in Sarawak General Hospital (SGH), Kuching, Sarawak. The socialdemographic factors were also evaluated to identify the high-risk groups.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study involving 227 house officers in SGH over a period of three months. The social-demographic data such as age, sex, marital status, current posting, duration of posting, place of graduate and state of origin were obtained from interviews with the respondents. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress scale (DASS) questionnaire was completed to assess the psychological morbidities.
RESULTS: HO were found to have high prevalence of psychiatric morbidities such as depression (42%), anxiety (50%) and stress (42.7%). Foreign graduates showed a significantly higher odds of depression (odds ratio, OR: 3.851; 95% confidence interval, 95%CI: 2.165, 6.851), anxiety (OR: 2.427; 95%CI: 1.394, 4.225) and stress (OR: 2.524; 95%CI: 1.439, 4.427) as compared to local graduates.. Further, non-Sarawakians were observed to have higher odds of developing anxiety (OR: 1.772; 95%CI: 1.022, 3.073) as compared to the Sarawakians.
CONCLUSION: HO in SGH had high prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress. Therefore, psychiatric morbidities should be screened regularly amongst the HOs in Malaysia.

Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/diagnosis; Occupational Diseases/etiology; Occupational Diseases/epidemiology*
Fulltext Integrated Care Pathway (ICP) on management of Occupational Related Chronic Low Back Pain (OCLBP) in Malaysia: a critical review

Shahruz Idzwan Azmi, Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh, Noor Hassim Ismail

Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine, 2015;15(2):60-68.
MyJurnal

Occupational Related Chronic Low Back Pain (OCLBP) is a globally recognized illness that causes reduction in productivity and substantial economic burden to the countries. It requires a multidisclipinary approach involving employer, healthcare provider, compensatory and enforcement agencies. However there is no specific guideline or pathway that has integrated the roles of each responsible agency. The objective of this article is to highlight the need and to propose a coordinated approach through the concept of Integrated Care Pathway (ICP). Therefore, we reviewed international and local guidelines as well as published articles on chronic low back pain and care pathway. We believed that development of a pathway will be able to organize the role of management at every level, reducing the variations in the management, addressing issues of communicating the findings between the responsible stakeholders, fulfilling the requirements as the laws, allows effective and feasible approaches to take place in terms of cost and practicality, and increase the awareness on occupational diseases. Expected challenges such as limitation of resources, unawareness and lack of understanding on OCLBP from every level are issue that we agreed can be bridged through ICP.

Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases
Fulltext Hearing loss and contributing factors among airport workers in Malaysia

Nasir MH, Rampal KG

Med J Malaysia, 2012 Feb;67(1):81-6.
PMID: 22582554 MyJurnal

Sensorineural hearing loss is a common and important source of disability among the workers and often caused by occupational noise exposure. Aims of the study were to determine the prevalence and contributing factors of hearing loss among airport workers. A cross-sectional study was carried out at an airport in Malaysia. This study used stratified sampling method that involved 358 workers who were working in 3 different units between November 2008 and March 2009. Data for this study were collected by using questionnaires eliciting sociodemographic, occupational exposure history (previous and present), life-style including smoking habits and health-related data. Otoscopic and pure-tone audiometric tests were conducted for hearing assessment. Noise exposure status was categorize by using a noise logging dosimeter to obtain 8-hour Time-Weighted Average (TWA). Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 12.0.1 and EpiInfo 6.04. The prevalence of hearing loss was 33.5%. Age >40 years old (aOR 4.3, 95%CI 2.2-8.3) is the main risk factors for hearing loss followed by duration of noise exposure >5 years (aOR 2.5, 95%CI 1.4-4.7), smoking (aOR 2.1, 95%CI 1.2-3.4), duration of service >5 years (aOR 2.1, 95%CI 1.1-3.9), exposure to explosion (aOR 6.1, 95%CI 1.3-29.8), exposure to vibration (aOR 2.2, 95%CI 1.1-4.3) and working in engineering unit (aOR 5.9, 95%CI 1.1-30.9). The prevalence rate ratio of hearing loss for nonsmokers aged 40 years old and younger, smokers aged 40 years old and younger, non-smokers older than 40 years old and smokers older than 40 years old was 1.0, 1.7, 2.8 and 4.6 respectively. This result contributes towards better understanding of risk factors for hearing loss, which is relatively common among Malaysian workers.

Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/etiology*; Occupational Diseases/epidemiology
Screening of dental staff nurses for noise induced hearing loss

Daud MK, Noh NF, Sidek DS, Abd Rahman N, Abd Rani N, Zakaria MN

B-ENT, 2011;7(4):245-9.
PMID: 22338236

The effect of noise on employees of dental clinics is debatable. The purposes of this study were to determine the intensity and frequency components of dental instruments used by dental staff nurses and the prevalence of noise induced hearing loss.

Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/diagnosis; Occupational Diseases/epidemiology*
Fulltext Occupational infections

Lim VK

Malays J Pathol, 2009 Jun;31(1):1-9.
PMID: 19694307 MyJurnal

Many infections are associated with occupations. Involvement in a particular occupation may place the person at higher direct risk of contracting certain infections. In some instances the life-style associated with the occupation results in a higher risk of exposure to the infection. The link between the infection and the workplace is often missed by the attending physician. This may be due to a lack of awareness on the part of the physician. Sometimes a direct link can be difficult to prove without the use of sophisticated molecular epidemiological tests. This has led to gross under-diagnosis and under-reporting of such cases. It is however important that occupational infections be diagnosed as adequate preventive measures need to be implemented. Furthermore the patient may be eligible for monetary compensation under the relevant occupational safety laws of the country.

Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/etiology*; Occupational Diseases/epidemiology
Fulltext Reliability and validity of the Pressure Management Inventory in a Malaysian population

Loh SY

Med J Malaysia, 2004 Jun;59(2):199-206.
PMID: 15559170 MyJurnal

There is a general lack of valid tools to measure work stress of Malaysian. This study examines the validity and reliability of the Pressure Management Inventory (PMI). Reliability was evaluated using test retest method, and its correlation coefficient was calculated using Pearson's r. Internal consistencies were examined using Cronbach's Alpha. For precision, the Intraclass coefficients (ICC) were calculated for all the scales. Face Validity and Content Validity were assessed using an open-ended questionnaire on 6 content experts (psychiatrists in HKL). The results show good internal consistencies (alpha < or = 0.7) for most subscales, with the best results in the 'Pressure Scale'. The weak scales are 'Individual-Differences' scale and 'Social Support' scale. The test-retest correlation coefficients were significant at the level of p<0.001 for all, except one scale. The ICC coefficients were high (>0.7) for most scales, particularly for Pressure, Health and Coping Scales. The PMI is a suitable, reliable and valid tool to measure stress of Malaysians. More in-depth study with a wider sampling needs to be carried out to add confidence of its usage on Malaysians.

Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/diagnosis*; Occupational Diseases/epidemiology
Fulltext Prevalence and associated factors of job-related depression in laboratory technicians in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) and Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) Hospitals in Kelantan

Aziah BD, Rusli BN, Winn T, Naing L, Tengku MA

Med J Malaysia, 2004 Jun;59(2):268-78.
PMID: 15559179

Karasek's job strain model postulates that workers chronically exposed to adverse psychosocial work environment (high strain job)--high psychological job demands and low job control, including poor social support, increased physical demand and hazardous work condition--will eventually develop both physical illnesses such as cardiovascular diseases and psychological disorders such as depression. In order to determine the prevalence and associated factors of job-related depression, a cross-sectional study was conducted among laboratory technicians in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) and Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM) Hospitals in Kelantan between September 2001 and February 2002. One hundred and two laboratory technicians in HUSM and 79 laboratory technicians in 7 KKM Hospitals were selected; 84/102 (82.4%) in HUSM and 71/79 (89.9%) in KKM Hospitals responded. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires of the validated Malay version of the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) originally developed by Robert Karasek. Results indicated that the prevalence of high job strain in laboratory technicians in HUSM and KKM hospitals was 33.3% (28/84) and 26.8% (19/71), respectively (p>0.05). Significantly higher proportion (59.5%) (50/84) of laboratory technicians in HUSM compared to those in KKM Hospitals (39.4%) (28/71) (p = 0.016) experienced job-related depression. Significant associated factors of job-related depression were low social support (HUSM: adjusted OR 4.7, 95% CI 1.2-18.8; KKM: adjusted OR 14.8, 95%CI 2.4-89.3), high psychological demand (HUSM: adjusted OR 3.0, 95%CI 1.0-8.8), and low decision authority (KKM: adjusted OR 9.7, 95%CI 1.0-91.1). We conclude that strengthening the social support network (supervisors' and coworkers' support), reducing psychological job demand, and increasing decision-making authority of laboratory technicians may go a long way towards reducing job-related depression.

Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/diagnosis; Occupational Diseases/epidemiology*
Fulltext Risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders among oil palm fruit harvesters during early harvesting stage

Ng YG, Mohd Tamrin SB, Mohd Yusoff IS, Hashim Z, Deros BM, Abu Bakar S, et al.

Ann Agric Environ Med, 2015;22(2):286-92.
PMID: 26094525 DOI: 10.5604/12321966.1152101

This cross-sectional study intends to investigate the associations of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among foreign labourers on a socio-economic background, occupational exposure, social lifestyle, and postures adopted during harvesting tasks. A total of 446 male respondents (263 FFB cutters; 183 FFB collectors) were studied using an interview-assisted questionnaire. OWAS was used to determine the severity of awkward posture based on videos of harvesting tasks recorded for each respondent. Analysis found that increasingly educated respondents had higher risk of developing MSDs. Shorter daily work duration and longer resting duration appear to increase the risk of neck and shoulder disorders among harvesters, which may be attributable to organizational work design. Awkward posture was a particularly significant risk factor of MSDs among FFB collectors. Among the results of the study, occupational exposure, postures and certain socio-demographic backgrounds explained some, but not all, the risk factor of MSDs among harvesters. An in-depth investigation, preferably a longitudinal study investigating the dynamic of work activities and other risk factors, such as psychosocial risk factors, are recommended.

Matched MeSH terms: Occupational Diseases/etiology; Occupational Diseases/epidemiology*

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