Search results for "Occupational Medicine"

COVID-19 Pandemic: New Prevention and Protection Measures

2022

As of the end of February 2021, more than 420,000,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported worldwide, with 5,856,224 deaths. Transmission of the different genetically engineered variants of SARS-CoV-2, which have been isolated since the beginning of the pandemic, occurs from one infected person to another by the same means: the airborne route, indirect contact, and occasionally the fecal–oral route. Infection is asymptomatic or may present with flulike symptoms such as fever, cough, and mild to moderate and severe respiratory distress, requiring hospitalization and assisted ventilation support. To control the spread of COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for …

Modeling of medical activity heterogenity to improve the hospital management by diagnosis-related groups

1998

Since the early 1980s healthcare systems in the industrialized nations have been undergoing radical reform aimed at curbing overspending of hospital expenditure. After a discussion of the limits of a prospective payment due to heterogeneity of costs within DRGs, we demonstrate the ability of anovel statistical model to identify high cost patients. We derive from this statistical model an economic heuristic in order to account for high cost patients in budget allocation and a Structural and Contingent method is proposed as a budgeting tool. Economic analysis based on this modeling of DRG heterogeneity further reveals the potential for improving the equity and the efficiency of the prospectiv…

Strategical behaviours in French ambulatory care (a theoretical and empirical study)

1991

Specifying agency relationships between the different actors in ambulatory care - the patient, the physician, the insurance and public authorities - allows to render an account of the complexity and the specificity of the health system. After a presentation of the normative approach of the agency theory, we will focus on two agency relationships : the Relationship between the insurance and insured people and the relationship between the patient and the physician. The driving part of supply appears through the analysis of the relationship between the physician and the others : he is the agent of both the patient and public authorities. The issue is then the hypothesis of supplier induced dem…

SARS-CoV-2 and the Risk Assessment Document in Italian Work: Specific or Generic Risk Even If Aggravated?

2021

In December 2019, several cases of atypical pneumonia were detected in Wuhan city, Hubei province, inland China. The initial outbreak was of considerable size first in China subsequently spread to the rest of the world. Immediately after the epidemic (which according to the World Health Organization had risen to pandemic status), the problem of whether or not to update the occupational risk assessment arose, also considering how the biological risk from SARS CoV-2 should be understood: specific or generic. To this end, we conducted a literature review to identify national health legislation and policies, examining how Italy has addressed the COVID-19 emergency in occupational health plannin…

Medical and occupational preconditions for vibration-induced spinal disorders: occupational disease no. 2110 in Germany.

1994

The current state of scientific knowledge of the biodynamic behaviour of the vertebral column under the influence of whole-body vibration whilst sitting and results from epidemiological studies caused the medical board of experts on occupational health of the Federal Ministry of Labour in Germany to add a new occupational disease to the official list of occupational diseases. The occupational disease “diseases of the lumbar spine from disc degeneration caused by long-term (mainly vertical) whole-body vibration exposure” has been introduced. The medical preconditions with the symptoms and the diagnostic methods are presented. With regard to the occupational preconditions for the acknowledgem…

Exercise Testing in Sports Medicine

2018

Background Bicycle and treadmill exercise tests are used in sports medicine and occupational medicine to detect latent disease, to monitor treatment, and to measure patients' physical performance ability and reserve. In this review, we describe the indications, contraindications, and manner of performance of these tests, along with the variables tested, criteria for evaluation, (sub)maximal stress, and the factors that affect these tests, including age, sex, and medications. Methods This review is based on pertinent articles retrieved by a selective literature search and on the ergometry guidelines of four medical specialty societies. Results The proper performance of ergometric stress test…

2019

ObjectiveMany people of all ages suffer from vertigo due to different reasons. The comparison of patient data with standard values can highlight deteriorations or changes in postural control and thus indicate, for example, an increased risk of falling. Our aim is to measure standard values for the postural control of young healthy women.DesignObservational study.SettingInstitute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Goethe-University Frankfurt/Main.Participants106 healthy German female subjects aged between 21 and 30 years (25±2.7 years) were measured. Their average body mass index (BMI) was 21.1±2.61 kg/m².Outcome measuresA pressure measuring platform was us…

Occupational exposure to pesticides and congenital malformations: A review of mechanisms, methods, and results

1998

Pesticides are chemicals that are widely used all over the world. Human beings can be exposed through environmental contamination and/or occupational use of pesticides. Although there is substantial information on the acute toxicity of many of these chemicals, available knowledge on delayed effects is much more limited. This paper reviews epidemiological studies on occupational exposure to pesticides, mainly in agricultural workers, and risk of congenital malformations. The discussion includes postulated mechanisms for birth defects from paternal or maternal exposure, a detailed review of method of the studies carried out so far on the relationship between occupational exposure to pesticide…

Management of High-Pressure Injection Hand Injuries: A Multicentric, Retrospective, Observational Study

2019

Hand injuries after high-pressure injection are a medical emergency. These events occur frequently in workers during industrial cleaning, painting, and lubrication, and may have devastating consequences, leading to eventual amputation and poor functional outcomes. The authors have investigated the evolution, management, and outcome. Medical records of occupational medicine units and hand surgery units were collected in order to spot the high-pressure gear accident cases. Records were analyzed by dividing the subjects into two groups: those treated within 6 h and after 6 h of the trauma. A follow-up was carried out at least 1 year after treatment

Musculoskeletal disorders and incongruous postures in workers on ropes: A pilot study

2023

Background: Occupational hazards believed to cause musculoskeletal disorders in rope workers are traditionally associated with maintaining incongruous postures for prolonged periods of time. Design and methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 132 technical operators in the wind energy and acrobatic construction sectors, who work on ropes, analysing the ergonomic characteristics of the environments, the way in which tasks are carried out, the strain perceived by individual workers, and assessing the presence of any musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) by means of an objective examination focused on the anatomical districts that were the object of our study. Results: Analysis of the dat…