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BACKGROUND: It is unknown whether questionnaires measuring psychosocial constructs related to low back pain (LBP) that were originally designed for adults are suitable for adolescents, and if paper and web-versions have similar measurement properties. OBJECTIVES: To examine selected psychometric properties for the paper- and web-based Back-Beliefs Questionnaire (BBQ) and the Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ-phys) among adults and adolescents in two diverse countries and to determine whether differences existed between countries and pain groups. METHODS: A sample of 156 adults (Hong Kong, n = 75; Australia, n = 81) and 96 adolescents (Hong Kong, n = 61; Australia, n = 35) participated in this cross-sectional study. RESULTS: Main effects for country and administration mode were observed in adult BBQ scores, where Australian adults reported significantly higher BBQ scores than Hong Kong adults (mean difference (MD); 95% CI: 2.85; 0.96-4.74) and significantly higher scores were recorded on the web mode compared to the paper mode (MD 0.74; 0.10-1.38). Similarly, Hong Kong adults and adolescents reported higher FABQ-phys scores than Australian adults and adolescents (MD; 95% CI: 3.40; 1.37-5.43 and 4.88; 0.53-9.23, respectively). Internal consistency values were mostly acceptable (α⩾0.7). CONCLUSION: Differences exist between cultures for LBP-related beliefs. The BBQ and FABQ-phys have acceptable measurement properties in both administration modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Digital cognitive tests offer several potential advantages over established paper-pencil tests but have not yet been fully evaluated for the clinical evaluation of mild cognitive impairment.Objective: The NeuroCognitive Performance Test (NCPT) is a web-based, self-directed, modular battery intended for repeated assessments of multiple cognitive domains. Our objective was to examine its relationship with the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognition Subscale (ADAS-Cog) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) as well as with established paper-pencil tests of cognition and daily functioning in mild cognitive impairment (MCI).Methods: We used Spearman correlations, regressions and principal components analysis followed by a factor analysis (varimax rotated) to examine our objectives.Results: In MCI subjects, the NCPT composite is significantly correlated with both a composite measure of established tests (r = 0.78, p < 0.0001) as well as with the ADAS-Cog (r = -0.55, p < 0.0001). Both NCPT and paper-pencil test batteries had a similar factor structure that included a large "g" component with a high eigenvalue. The correlation for the analogous tests (e.g., Trails A and B, learning memory tests) were significant (p < 0.0001). Further, both the NCPT and established tests significantly (p < 0.0001) predicted the University of California San Diego Performance-Based Skills Assessment and Functional Activities Questionnaire, measures of daily functioning.Conclusion: The NCPT, a web-based, self-directed, computerized test, shows high concurrent validity with established tests and hence offers promise for use as a research or clinical tool in MCI. Despite limitations such as a relatively small sample, absence of control group and cross-sectional nature, these findings are consistent with the growing literature on the promise of self-directed, web-based cognitive assessments for MCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Health care workers face a wide range of chemical, physical, and biological occupational hazards in their jobs. OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to investigate research trends on post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) against blood-borne viral infections among health care workers. METHOD: Keywords related to health care workers, PEP, and blood-borne viruses were entered in the Scopus database for the period from 1950 to 27 January 2022. RESULTS: The search query returned 271 papers. The earliest publication was in 1984. The ranked first (n = 8, 3.0%), followed by the and with 6 (2.2%) papers for each. One hundred ninety-one journals took part in publishing the retrieved papers. Authors from 63 different countries took part in publishing the retrieved papers. The United States (US) ranked first (n = 53, 19.6%) followed by India (n = 26, 9.6%). The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contributed the most (n = 9, 3.3%) and ranked first in the top active institutions. The mean number of authors per paper was 4.4 and the mean number of citations per paper was 17.0. The most frequent author keywords focused on PEP, health care workers, occupational exposure, HIV, hepatitis B, anti-retroviral and needle-stick injuries. Research themes in the retrieved papers focused on knowledge/attitude/practice and management and epidemiology of occupational exposure and PEP. There was a limited number of research publications in this field. CONCLUSION: Research activity in this field needs to be strengthened in low- and middle-income countries through reporting and training of HCWs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The World Health Organization has estimated that worldwide around 50 million people have dementia. The World Alzheimer Report estimated that between 2 and 10% of all cases of dementia begin before the age of 65. Early and young onset dementias (EYOD) provoke more working, social, family, and economic consequences than late onset dementias. All general studies about costs of dementias show that most of them are indirect or social costs. Despite that, very few studies have been performed in EYOD.Objective: To do a systematic review of literature about indirect or social costs in EYOD to know the state of knowledge and to discover gaps that should be filled.Methods: A systematic review was performed in the main database: Scopus, PsychInfo, Web of Science (Web of Science Core Collection, Medline and SciELO), and CINAHL. Additionally, we looked for reviews in Cochrane and in the International Prospective Register Of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO).Results: Most of the studies are about costs of dementias in general, but they do no differentiate costs for the case of EYOD. Many studies highlight the increased costs for EYOD but very little included evidence of that. 135 papers were selected. Finally, only two were studies providing data. EYOD reduce the odds to get or maintain a job. Most of the care is provided by informal caregivers. The costs in EYOD are 39.26% higher among EYOD than in late onset.Conclusion: There is a lack of studies about social and indirect costs in EYOD. More evidence is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to conduct a literature review as a step of the development of a new questionnaire about the nursing workers' perception of job factors that may lead to musculoskeletal symptoms. An information synthesis was achieved by collecting data from studies that fitted the search criteria. The results showed that despite the existence of several job factors related to musculoskeletal symptoms, no specific questionnaire that evaluates this relationship was found. Therefore, this literature review presents important topics for developing the first questionnaire to analyze work activities that may contribute to pain and discomfort among nursing personnel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: A valid distribution of key anthropometric parameters among participants is often a perquisite of ergonomics research. OBJECTIVE: In this paper, we investigated the accuracy of self-reported stature and body mass of the population in the Netherlands. METHODS: Data from 4 experiments was synthesized where in each experiment, participants self-reported their stature and body mass prior to being measured, of which they were not notified before. RESULTS: Statistical analysis of 249 records indicated that on average, participants overreported their stature by 1.31 cm and underreported their mass by 1.45 kg. This is especially true for people with a BMI≥25. CONCLUSION: Two models were proposed to adjust the self-reported stature and body mass for ergonomic researchers in a survey or recruitment. Limitations in using the models are highlighted as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: This paper focuses on the concept of career construction based on the theory of conservation of resources to understand the overall effect of career capital on career success from both a subjective and objective manner through the mediating effect of perceived employability. OBJECTIVE: This study attempts to explain how different integrated aspects of career capital, including human, social, and psychological (antecedents), influence both subjective career success and objective career success (outcome) through the mediating effect of perceived employability (mediator). METHODS: Time-lagged data of 331 employees from the telehealth medical billing service companies based in Pakistan were analyzed through a structural equation modeling technique using SmartPLS software. RESULTS: The main results confirmed that career capital positively affects perceived employability and career success while perceived employability positively mediates the relationship between career capital and career success. CONCLUSION: This research responded to prior calls by explaining the positive mediating role of perceived employability (as a mediator) in explaining the positive influence of career capital on career success using different various dimensions of career capital and career success. This research included the contextual issues by testing the model in the telehealth sector of Pakistan. The findings suggested that context or occupation matters in the relationship between career capital and career success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: HER2 gene expression is one of the main reference indicators for breast cancer detection and treatment, and it is also an important target for tumor targeted therapy drug selection. Therefore, the correct detection and evaluation of HER2 gene expression has important value for clinical treatment of breast cancer.Objective: The study goal is to better classify HER2 images.Methods: For general convolution neural network, with the increase of network layers, over fitting phenomenon is often very serious, which requires setting the value of random descent ratio, and parameter adjustment is often time-consuming and laborious, so this paper uses residual network, with the increase of network layer, the accuracy will not be reduced.Results: In this paper, a HER2 image classification algorithm based on improved residual network is proposed. Experimental results show that the proposed HER2 network has high accuracy in breast cancer assessment.Conclusion: Taking HER2 images in Stanford University database as experimental data, the accuracy of HER2 image automatic classification is improved through experiments. This method will help to reduce the detection intensity and improve the accuracy of HER2 image classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The Quick Exposure Check (QEC) assesses four major body parts and engages users in assessing some physical interactions relevant to design in task analysis. OBJECTIVE: In this paper, we investigated the application of QEC as the ergonomic intervention to detect pre-production ergonomic design faults in the apple sorting machine by applying physical and virtual prototyping for three different tasks analysis divided into two phases (Task 1: Apple harvesting and preparation for sorting; Task 2: Sorting control and separation of waste fruits; Task 3: Transfer of separated apples). METHOD: First, the QEC questionnaire was administered while Iranian participants interacted with the machine to detect abnormal posture. Second, we redesigned a concept of the machine and assessed it with QEC by a focus group. RESULTS: Before design, the high pressure in Task 1 is on the back (dynamic), shoulder/arm, and very high pressure in Task 2, and in Task 3 on the back (static), arm/shoulder/neck, making an uncomfortable situation for posture. After redesign, we observed decreased pressures on the back/shoulder/arm in Task 1 from high to medium, in Task 3 from very high to low, and also in Task 2, this was detectable decreasing from very high pressures on the back/shoulder/arm and the high pressures on the neck to medium. CONCLUSION: Prototyping with QEC demonstrated that accurate redesigning of the machine with concentration on shifting from static tasks to dynamic or conversely, and ease of access by adjusting dimensions according to anthropometry and auxiliary products, could reduce musculoskeletal disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The success of organizations' sustainable performance mainly depends on their human resource capital and for this organizations now need to focus on green human capital development programs including green talent management (GTM). GTM entails attracting, nurturing, and retaining those people who can promote the green initiatives of the organization. OBJECTIVE: This paper aims to investigate the impact of GTM, transformational leadership, and employee engagement on the sustainable environmental performance of organizations. METHODS: The data were collected from both academic and administrative employees in five Omani higher education institutions (HEIs). In total 367 questionnaires were collected using drop-off and pickup methods. RESULTS: The results of the study showed that green hard and green soft talent management (TM) and employee engagement with green initiatives are significant predictors of the sustainable environmental performance of HEIs. Moreover, transformational leadership can moderate the influence of green soft TM on employee engagement with green initiatives by strengthening the relationship. CONCLUSIONS: For sustainable performance and development, organizations especially HEIs need to actively assume their social responsibilities and implement sustainable environmental management. The present study provides meaningful implications for practitioners, educational policymakers, and leaders to promote GTM and employee engagement for sustainable environmental performance. Supporting green skill development, engaging employees with green initiatives, and promoting staff with green skills can help organizations particularly HEIs to increase their sustainable environmental performance and gain a competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: In order to overcome obstacles to entry and inclusion in the workplace, individuals with disabilities engage in various impression management strategies to present themselves as the socially acceptable 'ideal employee.' OBJECTIVE: This study expands on previous disclosure research by asking individuals with disabilities to share their experiences of identity management and workplace challenges. METHODS: We leveraged qualitative research techniques to explore the reciprocal impact of workplace treatment and disclosure. RESULTS: Impression management emerged as an especially salient aspect of participants' disclosure decisions, and participants used an array of impression management tactics. Some employees with disabilities described positive experiences; however, we also learned that impression management can present unique challenges that may outweigh potential benefits. CONCLUSION: Our findings affirm that managing the image we project can be remarkably complicated and effortful when having a disability. This paper concludes with implementation recommendations for vocational rehabilitation counselors and human resource practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study examined the validity of hand therapists' self-report of cumulative trauma disorder (CTD) risk factors by comparing the self-report to observations performed by the raters. Inter-rater reliability was also analyzed between the raters who observed the hand therapists. Study Design: Two raters simultaneously observed each hand therapist during a splinting task at a therapy facility. Following this task, the raters and the hand therapist independently completed an identical assessment tool. Thirteen therapists were observed and a total of six raters observed the therapists. Responses from two categories of the self-assessment, 'posture' and 'mechanical stress', were compared. percentage of agreement was calculated by dividing the number of like responses by the total number of possible responses for each category. Results: Overall inter-rater reliability was 72%, significantly above the accepted minimum standard of 60-70%, and validity was 39%, significantly below the accepted minimum. Conclusion: The high percentage of inter-rater reliability established consistency and accuracy among the raters in their observations. However, the low percentage of validity should prompt hand therapists to investigate the accuracy of a patient's self-report before relying on it for treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Currently, there is a need for models, methods, and tools that allow ergonomics/human factor (E/HF) practitioners to assess the level of E/HF integration into organizations from a macroergonomics perspective. OBJECTIVE: This paper aims to propose the Ergonomic Maturity Model (EMM) and the tools for its application as a framework for integrating E/HF in organizations. METHODS: The EMM is a macroergonomic tool that allows stakeholders to evaluate the degree of development and integration of E/HF in the organization based on a participatory and macroergonomic approach. The EMM classifies organizations into five gradual levels of maturity: Ignorance, Understanding, Experimentation, Regular use, and Innovation. RESULTS: In this paper, we provide a three-stage procedure for guiding the application of the EMM: preparation of the evaluation, evaluation, and improvement plan and implementation. We include four tools developed specifically for applying EMM in organizations: evaluation matrix, weighting questionnaire, quick questionnaire, and prioritization matrix. Also, we present a Colombian floriculture company's case study to exemplify the use of the EMM. CONCLUSIONS: The EMM provides a framework for integrating E/HF into organizations from the macroergonomics approach. E/HF practitioners can find in the EMM a tool to help them channel the actions taken by the different organizational actors to improve the safety, health, well-being, and performance of work systems. Finally, it should be noted that further studies on the reliability and validity of the EMM are needed, which would contribute to demonstrating that the EMM can effectively and successfully guide change in E/HF maturity levels in organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Survey research is one of the most essential domains of evaluation and measurement in healthcare and social sciences. Online surveys are considered the most economical of the three main data collection methods, followed by telephone interviewing, while face-to-face interviewing is the most expensive. Even though they have many advantages, online surveys have very low response rates. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate a practical and simply replicable approach for using PubMed to generate large email lists of potential participants for healthcare survey research. In addition to personalizing each email, researchers can use a range of strategies to improve the response rate, including sending reminders, adding the updated response rate to the reminders, and stating the average time it would take participants to complete the survey. Moreover, acknowledging participants, using financial and non-financial incentives and contacting participants through their affiliated organization, can significantly improve participants response rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: While positive short-term effects from corrective exercise on neck-shoulder pain (NSP) are evident, maintenance effects after cessation of the exercise remain unknown. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study was to assess the lasting effects of corrective exercise in NSP and workability after a year of detraining. METHODS: A cohort study with 1-year follow-up was carried out in two previous training groups (n = 24) using a self-reported paper-based questionnaire, which was completed three times (baseline, 8-week exercise, and 1-year detraining). The subjects (mean±SD age: 39.0±6.4, 38.1±8.0) responded to the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for NSP as the primary outcome. A single validated item from the Workability Index determined workability as the secondary outcome. Between and within-group differences of the two groups were investigated using non-parametric tests, including 12 subjects in each group. RESULTS: The results indicated that 8-week exercise improvements in NSP and mental and physical workability were largely maintained after one year of detraining. The lasting effects of NSP and physical and mental workability were statistically identified in 8-week and 1-year follow-ups. Nevertheless, it is noticeably warranted to adhere to the exercise program. CONCLUSION: The current study indicates that a brief 8-week exercise period once per year is sufficient to reduce pain and improve workability among workers. This knowledge can make exercise interventions more feasible and cost-effective for companies aiming to improve employee health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: In recent years, with ever-improving technology, considerable progress has been made in the approaches available to develop mobility assistive technology systems. OBJECTIVE: This paper aims to anticipate the future of assistive technologies of navigation and mobility for people with severe visual disabilities in the next twenty years (2021–2041). METHODS: We conducted a technology foresight exercise by identifying promising technologies and invited over 20,000 researchers worldwide to share their views on the future of assistive technologies for people with visual impairment. The technologies and respondents were identified from specialized journals indexed on Web of Science. RESULTS: Most respondents believe computer vision will be the most important assistive technology group for mobility and navigation for visually impaired people, especially with haptic feedback. They also believe that voice and vibrotactile are the most relevant feedback and that glasses and smartphones will be the most important tools for visual impairment support. CONCLUSIONS: While costs and lack of user training may hamper the development and use of these new technologies, they represent the future of assistive technology for people with visual impairments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The design, provision, and assessment of prosthetic arm technologies and related services are all dependent on an understanding of how prosthetic arms are used in everyday life. This research examines the scientific literature on prosthetic arm technologies and approaches that have been used to evaluate upper limb prosthetic arms in daily life use. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this review paper is to give an outline of current literature, which covers the selection, design, and choices of prosthetic arm technologies. METHODS: A structural search for the available technologies on the prosthetic arm was carried out. A research database search was carried out in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Crossref, Google Scholar, and questionnaires were evaluated based on available prosthetic arm technologies, material, methodology, comfortability. RESULTS: From the proposed review, it is concluded that not all prosthetic technologies suit the patients because of the difference in injuries. Every prosthetic arm technology has its advantages and limitations depending on end-user requirements and comfortability. Based on the available literature, it is observed that amputees have been given equal importance to comfortability along with functionality. Consequently, amputees may opt for a prosthetic arm technology that is easy to use and comfortable rather than an advanced technology-based prosthetic arm but less with comfortability. CONCLUSION: An attempt has been made for extensive reviews for the various types of prosthetic systems, materials, usability, methodologies, comfortability, etc. Comparative studies on various types of available prosthetic arm technologies have been also carried out with pros and cons. More specifically, the proposed paper provides a significant review of the upper limb prosthetic arm's current developments and their impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Occupational stress-related factors among working municipal police officers in Poland have not been examined in the literature. The purpose of the paper was to evaluate the impact of selected work-related factors on occupational stress in active municipal police officers in Warsaw by using configural frequency analysis (CFA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 578 participants, which accounted for 55.1% of all municipal police officers in Warsaw. The majority of study participants were men (72%) (mean age 43 years old). Two groups of workplace-related stress factors were analysed in the study: physical conditions and organisational working conditions causing stress. The study was carried out using the PAPI method (Paper-and-Pencil Interviewing), based on a proprietary questionnaire developed for the study. CFA searches for templates and patterns in contingency tables. RESULTS: Municipal police officers who claimed that stress did not affect health, took advantage of psychological/psychiatric advice less often than those who thought so (1.7% vs 10.1%; χ2 = 20.152, df = 2, P = 0.000). Those who declared that they often experienced stress at work were also more prone to claiming that one or two factors affected their level of stress: physical abuse, contact with infectious materials, working at uncomfortable temperatures or working in a noisy environment. In the opinion of the study population, there were some factors which contributed to the occurrence of stress at work, and these factors included: working in a hurry, lack of necessary resources, devices and materials at work, the need to be available at all times and the unpredictability of the work. The municipal police officers from the study population combined two or three methods to cope with stress, such as watching TV, surfing the Internet and talking with their families. CONCLUSION: Due to the specificity of a municipal police officer's occupation, special attention should be paid to the occupational stress risk factors characteristic for this group of professionals, and measures should be taken to reduce the number of stressors. It is important to organise training events devoted to effective methods of coping with stress. There is need to carry out more in-depth studies of occupational stress among municipal police officers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The Communication Disorders and Nursing Programs conducted a pilot study to examine the value of peer review as an educational strategy to improve graduate student writing and understanding of course assignments. PARTICIPANTS: Graduate students enrolled in a communication disorders diagnostic process course, a health policy course, or a philosophical foundations course (N=120). METHODS: Students participated as a peer reviewer for their final assignment. The reviewer read the draft assignment and provided comments. Additionally, nursing students read their papers out loud to the peer reviewer. Students submitted their draft assignment to their professor. The nursing drafts were graded. Students revised and submitted the final assignment for a grade. Students completed a questionnaire at the end of the course to provide feedback about the value of peer review. RESULTS: A 65% response rate was obtained. Students (89.9%) felt that the draft was helpful, the partner was helpful (70.9%), and 78.5% incorporated the suggestions of the peer reviewer. Overall, grades improved from the draft version to the final version for each assignment. CONCLUSION: The pilot study showed that peer review was an effective educational strategy to improve student grades and conceptual understanding of the material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The weak preventive culture among workers in the construction sector leads to the underestimation of risks posed by the presence or handling of chemical agents on-site and, consequently, harms workers' health. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this paper are to classify exposure to chemical agents present or used on-site, determine workers' perception of said agents and establish the influence that socio-demographic variables have on chemical agent exposure and the perception of such exposure. METHODS: A total of 490 workers in the Spanish construction sector participated in this study. The data were gathered through a self-administered questionnaire that explored socio-demographic characteristics, the degree of exposure to chemical agents, attitudes toward exposure and the prevention of consequences. The underlying dimensions of perception were researched using an adapted version of the questionnaire used by the Paul Slovic group to apply the psychometric paradigm. RESULTS: The levels of exposure to and handling of chemical agents found in the sample were high and moderate, respectively. The participants were found to have advanced knowledge about the effects of exposure, with the majority of the workers considering the probability of suffering a serious disease to be low. Statistically significant associations were found between the socio-demographic variables identified in the sample and the various exposure characteristics. A factor analysis performed on the underlying dimensions of perception provided a final version of the instrument comprising two factors. CONCLUSION: Measures are needed to improve the preventive culture among workers in the construction sector and reinforce on-site preventive measures aimed at preventing or minimising the consequences of exposure to chemical agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PURPOSE: The International Alliance of Academies of Childhood Disability created a COVID-19 Task Force with the goal of understanding the global impact of COVID-19 on children with disabilities and their families. The aim of this paper is to synthesize existing evidence describing the impact of COVID-19 on people with disabilities, derived from surveys conducted across the globe. METHODS: A descriptive environmental scan of surveys was conducted. From June to November 2020, a global call for surveys addressing the impact of COVID-19 on disability was launched. To identify gaps and overlaps, the content of the surveys was compared to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. RESULTS: Forty-nine surveys, involving information from more than 17,230 participants around the world were collected. Overall, surveys identified that COVID-19 has negatively impacted several areas of functioning - including mental health, and human rights of people with disabilities and their families worldwide. CONCLUSION: Globally, the surveys highlight that impact of COVID-19 on mental health of people with disabilities, caregivers, and professionals continues to be a major issue. Rapid dissemination of collected information is essential for ameliorating the impact of COVID-19 across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capture-recapture (CRC) is currently considered a promising method to integrate big data in official statistics. We previously applied CRC to estimate road freight transport with survey data (as the first capture) and road sensor data (as the second capture), using license plate and time-stamp to identify re-captured vehicles. A considerable difference was found between the single-source, design-based survey estimate, and the multiple-source, model-based CRC estimate. One possible explanation is underreporting in the survey, which is conceivable given the response burden of diary questionnaires. In this paper, we explore alternative explanations by quantifying their effect on the estimated amount of underreporting. In particular, we study the effects of 1) reporting errors, including a mismatch between the reported day of loading and the measured day of driving, 2) measurement errors, including false positives and OCR failure, 3) considering vehicles reported not owned as nonresponse error instead of frame error, and 4) response mode. We conclude that alternative hypotheses are unlikely to fully explain the difference between the survey estimate and the CRC estimate. Underreporting, therefore, remains a likely explanation, illustrating the power of combining survey and sensor data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To interpret and to process the answers to questionnaires with large amount of questions may be not easy task. They are multidimensional data, sometimes with high dimensionality (in the hundreds). Therefore, it is necessary that some data reduction approach should be employed. On the other hand, answers to specific questions in questionnaires are imprecise, and the type and degree of imprecision is determined by the kind of the questions. The authors of the paper consider the imprecise answers to management type questions using a numerical scale as fuzzy degrees, and based on the semantic connections among the individual questions, a hierarchical structure is assumed. The paper suggests the use of factor analysis in order to determine this hierarchical structure, and thus the construction of fuzzy signatures from the tree graph representing the connections among the questions and answers, and the values normalized into membership degrees are assigned to the leaves of this tree. An interesting issue is how to determine the aggregations at the intermediate nodes. This may happen based on management science domain expert knowledge, and validated by the obtained results. Kohonen maps are used to demonstrate the clusters emerging among the overall fuzzy degrees representing the Fuzzy Signatures. The evaluation brings some results that partly confirm soft science based assumptions about employee behavior in the literature, and partly bring some interesting novel recognitions that may be brought in feedback to the original management science related problem, where the new method is illustrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has undeniably brought up the issue of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) for businesses in Turkey. In this global pandemic, strategies developed to effectively address OHS risks and eliminate them with reliable, high-quality data have gained importance. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the perceptions of employees in the forest products industry in Turkey regarding the OHS during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: The sample of the descriptive and analytical study consisted of a total of 371 employees in forest product businesses located in Turkey. The sample of the study was determined by the purpose-based sampling method. Data were collected both online and face-to-face from June 2022 to October 2022. The data were obtained using the Questionnaire of Employee and Business Characteristics and the Scale of Employees' Perceptions on the OHS (S-POHS) adapted by Özden (2022). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS and calculated by descriptive analyses, pairwise comparison tests and multivariate regression analyses. RESULTS: 39.1% of the employees with a mean age of 34.12±8.78 years are high school graduates and 61.5% are workers. Significant differences were found in the S-POHS average scores of the employees in the businesses that produce paper-cardboard, have operated for less than 20 years, have a partnership structure with foreign capital and have an OHS Management System Quality Certificate (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: While a positive OHS perception level has already been achieved in the forest products industry in business administrations and by employees, it is clear that this should not be lost and it should be prepared for the next crises by adding new applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Vision impairments affect the ability to navigate environments and gain spatial perception of one's surroundings. Existing navigation aids typically provide close-range information, but not feedback on farther distances (i.e., beyond 5 m from the user). OBJECTIVE: To address this gap, the OptiBand, a custom assistive device, was previously designed with a stakeholder who is blind. The OptiBand uses Lidar sensing and haptic feedback to relay information on objects up to 15 m away. In this paper, we sought to evaluate the efficacy of the OptiBand with an in situ user study. METHODS: N = 9 participants (eight blind and one low-vision) used the OptiBand for a period of three months. Users periodically rated spatial perception workload and trust of their assistive navigation aids (at first as a baseline without the OptiBand, and then with the OptiBand). RESULTS: The OptiBand tended to yield lower workload requirements and similar trust levels compared to existing navigation aids. Interview data demonstrated the usefulness of the OptiBand in selected day-to-day tasks such as navigating outdoors and maintaining appropriate interpersonal spacing. CONCLUSIONS: This work provides evidence on benefits of and potential uses of assistive navigation aids like the OptiBand. Researchers interested in similar devices can benefit from our efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Athletic fatigue is an inescapable issue in competitive sports. It belongs to a physiological response that is triggered when competitive athletes are trained to a critical point. OBJECTIVE: The study aims to explore the relationships involving boxers' social support, mental fatigue, coach leadership behaviors and psychological resilience. METHODS: 1050 boxers were selected in several provinces across China and investigated on the basis of the Social Support Questionnaire for Athletes, Mental Fatigue Scale, Psychological Resilience Scale, and Leadership Scale for Sport. RESULTS: Boxers' social support was negatively correlated with mental fatigue and psychological resilience, while it was positively correlated with coach leadership behaviors. Apart from direct effects on mental fatigue, other impacts are imposed by boxers' social support via mediating effects such as coach leadership behaviors and psychological resilience. The total effect value was -0.18, the direct effect value was -0.08, and the indirect effect value was -0.12; furthermore, coach leadership behaviors and psychological resilience play a mediating role, accounting for 65.57% of the total. CONCLUSION: In order to alleviate the stress from intense competitive training and abate mental fatigue, competitive athletes may be encouraged in subsequent training to seek all-sided social support for social interpersonal relationships. While clarifying the mechanism how the external environment affects individuals, this paper explains the principle of social support on athletes' psychological fatigue and identifies mutual influences between coaches and athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Implications of entrepreneurial education (EE), entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) and personality traits (PT) on the entrepreneurial intentions of the deaf is yet unknown in existing literature. OBJECTIVE: To examine the influence of EE, ESE and PT on the entrepreneurial intentions among some 250 Deaf and Hard of hearing (DHH) students from two post-secondary institutions in Oyo state, Nigeria. METHODS: A descriptive research design was adopted, while a structured paper questionnaire was used for data collection. The data generated were analysed using descriptive statistics and the inferential statistics of Pearson Product Moment Correlation and hierarchical multiple regression at a 0.05 level of significance. RESULTS: The entrepreneurial intentions of DHH college students had a significant positive correlation with EE (r = 0.18, p < 0.05), agreeableness (r = 0.23, p < 0.05), and conscientiousness (r = 0.19, p < 0.05); but had a negative correlation with ESE, neuroticism and openness. Furthermore, personality traits and ESE were the highest predictors of entrepreneurial intention among DHH college students. CONCLUSIONS: Personality traits were the greatest predictor of the entrepreneurial intention of DHH college students post the COVID-19 lockdowns in Nigeria. Therefore, higher education institutions should intensify their efforts in entrepreneurial education and parents of DHH students should encourage them to seek entrepreneurial opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Precarious employment conditions can influence the worker's mental health; however, there is no consensus regarding the definition of precarious employment or the way it is measured. OBJECTIVE: The objective is to identify existing research of the conceptual framework, the ways to measure precarious employment and its impact on the mental health of workers. METHODS: A systematic review with the strategic search for observational-empirical and qualitative studies published between 2007 and 2020 in Embase, Scopus and PubMed, full text, in English and Spanish. Studies were selected and excluded, according to eligibility criteria. Two independent reviewers and one arbitrator evaluated the quality of selected papers with the STROBE guidelines for observational studies and SRQR for qualitative ones. RESULTS: 408 studies were obtained, 21 met inclusion criteria, in 14 studies precarious employment was measured one-dimensionally. Of these, 11 with the dimension of temporality and three with insecurity. Four studies it was measured in a multidimensional way, with the Employment Precariousness Scale (EPRES) and in three qualitative designs, with different categories of analysis. Mental health was measured with SF-36 (n = 4), GHQ-12 (n = 3) and CES-D (n = 3). CONCLUSIONS: The concept of precarious employment requires a multidimensional construct, although the tendency to measure precarious employment is one-dimensional. Regardless of how is measured, this has a negative impact on the mental health of workers. The outcomes related to this social determinant included depression, depressive symptoms, psychological distress, stress, and suicidal thoughts. Youths, women, people with low levels of education and immigrants are the groups that show the major precariousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: As interest in job-related psychology increased, the need to focus on understanding workplace stress was emphasized. Negative emotional states such as anxiety and stress permeate the organization and, if uncontrolled, can negatively impact the health and work performance of workers. Therefore, attempts to analyze various signals to understand human emotional states or attitudes may be important for future technological development. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify what biological variables can discriminate emotions that can significantly affect work results. METHODS: Databases (Embase, PsychINFO, PubMed, and CINAHL) were searched for all relevant literature published as of December 31, 2019. RESULTS: Brain activity (BA) and heart rate (HR) or heart rate variability (HRV) are adequate for assessing negative emotions, while BA, galvanic skin response (GSR), and salivary samples (SS) can confirm positive and negative emotions. CONCLUSION: In the future, researchers should study measurement tools and bio-related variables while workers perform tasks and develop intervention strategies to address emotions associated with work. This may enable workers to perform tasks more efficiently, prevent accidents, and satisfy clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Sedentary tasks contribute to the deterioration of health and the appearance of chronic diseases. Physical exercise can contribute to the development of health, although the characteristics of the most appropriate program are unknown. OBJECTIVES: This is the second paper of the PRODET® intervention trial evaluating the effect of a supervised group exercise intervention in the worksite based on aerobic capacity and strength lasting 12 weeks. METHODS: The sample was composed of 67 subjects (N = 67, mean age 34.31 years) and the study investigated a 12-week group physical exercise program in the workplace, two days per week with 50-minute sessions, which was supervised and based on aerobic endurance and strength. The 67 subjects were working-age office workers, deemed as sedentary and randomized into an intervention (N = 40) or control (N = 27) group. Outcomes work ability, depression, anxiety and job satisfaction were assessed with questionnaires pre-and post-test in both groups. RESULTS: The program showed effects on the mental factor of work ability (Z = 2.36, P = 0.019, η2 = 0.09). However, there were no significant differences in the rest of the results. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention had an impact on the mental factor of work ability in the workers whose occupations were based on sedentary tasks, and reinforcing this variable with an exercise program in the workplace could contribute to reducing the mental factor of work ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Call center workers are highly susceptible to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) as well as mental stress. Nonetheless, there has been a surprising paucity in the body of the research regarding interventions among call center workers. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of a multicomponent ergonomic intervention program on mental workload, mental fatigue and WRMSDs of call center employees. METHOD: A non-randomized interventional study with a single group pretest-posttest design was conducted among 84 call center workers of a private telecommunication company in the city of Tehran, Iran. At the baseline, data regarding WRMSDs prevalence, mental workload and mental fatigue were collected by means of standard Nordic, NASA-TLX and SOFI questionnaires, respectively. Then, subjects participated in a multifaceted intervention program including comprehensive office ergonomic training, work layout improvement, supervised on-site face to face visits, and provision of quality break time encompassing regular exercise program. Follow-up assessment was carried out after 6 months. RESULTS: After the intervention, prevalence of WMSDs in the neck (10%, P = 0.022), lower back (8.4%, P = 0.04), and knees (9.5%, P = 0.02) decreased significantly, while improvements in other body areas remained insignificant. Results also showed a significant decrease in overall score of mental demand (P = 0.000) as well as three of its subscales including performance (P = 0.02), effort (P = 0.001), and frustration (P = 0.025). Additionally, positive effect of the intervention was also observable on overall mental fatigue of call center workers (P = 0.016). As for its subscales, Lack of energy was reported to decrease meaningfully (P = 0.007) while lack of motivation did not change significantly (P = 0.240). CONCLUSION: Although the primary focus of many ergonomic interventions has remained to measure physical outcomes of the work place, our findings show that multicomponent interventions are indeed capable of boosting cognitive aspects of the work as well. The future studies should consider investigating such outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Manual "picker-to-part" order picking takes place in a labour-intensive and time-consuming working environment where humans are the central actors and co-determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the process. Throughout Europe, work-related musculoskeletal disorders affect millions of workers, especially in the logistics sector, and cost employers billions of euros. OBJECTIVE: This paper studies how order pickers relate the use of technology as well as their relationship with the logistics company to their well-being, health and productivity. METHODS: To obtain data, a survey consisting of questions regarding work characteristics, health problems and the logistics company's relationship with employees was conducted in Poland, Slovenia and Croatia. RESULTS: Workers who carry most items manually experience more health problems than cart and forklift users. The most common complaint is lower back pain – only 6% of order pickers (n = 221) never experienced it. The use of barcode or RFID scanner/terminal/smart phone correlates with more health problems than the use of other technologies. Participation in the selection of transport means or in training on health preservation can reduce the perceived health problems. CONCLUSIONS: Workers' perception of the impact of the applied technology on health and productivity can differ from the impact that is calculated or measured. Through their relationship with employees, logistics companies can influence employees' perception of their health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Cleaning workers experience severe musculoskeletal symptoms. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this paper was to examine musculoskeletal symptoms in cleaners of different heights to evaluate the effects of height on working postures in the work environment (schools). METHODS: We used a three-stage method including using the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) to evaluate musculoskeletal symptoms, a task analysis to confirm typical cleaning tasks, and the OVAKO Working Posture Assessment System (OWAS) for posture analysis. Multinomial logistic regression was performed to evaluate the adjusted effects of individual characteristics on painful body regions, using individuals without any pain as the reference category. RESULTS: This study found that the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms is very high for cleaners, especially in the shoulders, elbows, and lower back. Odds ratios for the accumulation of two or more risk factors were higher among men and were inversely associated with national economic indicators. The relatively high prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms may stem from the multiple operations involved in cleaning tasks, such as trash collecting, floor mopping, toilet cleaning, and mirror polishing. Workers of different heights had differential work loadings for different tasks. CONCLUSIONS: This paper proposes recommendations for job adaptations and occupational safety training. Cleaners of different heights execute the typical tasks via different postures, and awkward postures often result in musculoskeletal symptoms. Cleaners should be provided with specific tools and training regarding working postures on the basis of height. These findings can be used as a reference for related operation designs and task improvements to ensure correct tool usage and safer working postures during cleaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Research on workplace sexual harassment has focused largely on its direct antecedents and consequences. In contrast, few studies unravel mechanisms through which sexual harassment is related to organizational outcomes. OBJECTIVE: Following affective events theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate mental health as a mechanism in the relationship between sexual harassment and organizational commitment. METHODS: Quantitative data were collected using a survey design for which 249 employees responded. RESULTS: Structural equation modeling showed that the mediation model was partially supported for the overall sample because mental health was a partial and not full mediator. However, post-hoc analysis revealed that the mediation model was suited to men, but not women. CONCLUSIONS: This study contributes to sexual harassment research by (a) investigating a novel mechanism in the sexual harassment to organizational commitment relationship and (b) highlighting the importance of gender differences when attempting to unravel the sexual harassment causal chain. Implications for organizations regarding the development of sexual harassment policies, complaint procedures, and training are explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though speaking skills in the mother tongue develop naturally, developing reading skills requires training. Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability that can affect the reading ability in any language. Although many literature is available to address these challenges, the need to teach sentence reading was neglected. This paper addresses problems faced while reading sentences. As computer-based multi-sensory teaching is considered as an effective way to teach children with dyslexia (CwD), the proposed system uses multisensory teaching methods to teach sentence reading in Hindi and Bangla languages. It shows sentences as word packages to teach word sequence and help with comprehension. The platform records the response time of the user to generate a performance report to monitor her performance. For evaluating the system, an expert survey was conducted with 26 special educators in two phases, pre-test and post-test. The questionnaires were prepared following previous literature under the expert's supervision. The pre-test data helped in understanding the educators' experience and opinions about assistive technology and the post-test data were used to evaluate the system. In the evaluation, all educators agreed that the system will be very useful for their students and it will give a generalised solution for all the challenges their students face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The development of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) associated with forestry operations is an alarming issue. OBJECTIVE: In the present paper, an attempt was made to assess the location and the prevalence of the MSDs in timber harvesting tasks. METHODS: The analysis of logging-related risk factors was carried out by observing working postures with the use of the assessment tool RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment) during harvesting jobs. In addition, the standardised Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) was used in order to record self-reported MSDs symptoms. RESULTS: Results revealed that, in all work stages, risk levels were extremely high. According to the results of the RULA analysis, 77.5% of the working postures adopted by the left side of the body and 61.25% of postures involving the right side belong to the very high-risk level. According to the results of the questionnaire, a high percentage of loggers (34%) reported that they were facing problems in their backs and knees. CONCLUSIONS: Training and informing operators about the correct positions and the manual movement techniques, as well as increasing the mechanisation level of harvesting operations could reduce physiological work hardship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Biomedical waste can potentially compromise the environment and public safety if not safely disposed. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to assess the understanding and safe practices of biomedical and dental waste amongst the dental practitioners and practical year students amid the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A structured and validated questionnaire consisting of 21 closed ended questions was used to collect data from dental practitioners and students working in hospitals and clinics. The questionnaire was distributed in paper and digital form amongst the participants. Descriptive analysis was performed for categorical and numerical variables. Spearman correlation test was used to assess the relationship between awareness and waste disposal practices of dentists. A p-value of≤0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: More than three fourth of the participants were aware of proper dental waste disposal steps. One half was aware of the color-coded segregation of biomedical waste management. Two third of the participants were deploying safe biomedical waste practices. Nearly 68% subjects allocated separate labeled containers for disposal of COVID-19 suspected patient's waste. Furthermore, 71.63% participants were practicing PCR test before aerosol procedures. While 88.65% participants believed that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the financial burden in terms of safe practices and dental waste management. CONCLUSION: The awareness and practices of the participants towards dental waste management was found to be moderate. Satisfactory COVID-19 prevention and transmission measures were observed amongst the participants. BMW management lessons should be included in the academic curriculum and training program needs to be adopted for mass awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) collects dollar amounts for a wide variety of assets, liabilities, payments, incomes, and other items. Non-negligible problems with item nonresponse for these variables in the past has been mitigated by the collection of range information. However, reports from interviewers suggested that probing for ranges was sometimes awkward. The redesign of the 1995 SCF for computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) allowed the collection of range data to be incorporated more formally into the interview process than was feasible with a paper questionnaire and to capture more detailed information about the nature of probing. The results from the use of the new approach suggest that many responses that would previously have been recorded as "don't know" were instead collected as range information, and that ranges may have displaced some point estimates made by the respondent. In addition, the data suggest there are complex interactions effects that determine the types of ranges that interviewers and respondents negotiate. One justification for imposing this additional burden on interviewers and respondents is the potential for addressing nonignorable item nonresponse more fully. Although the results presented here tend to support the collection of range data as an efficiency-improving measure, there is not strong evidence that imputations would otherwise be biased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing an usability test involves defining the metrics that are being evaluated, the methods used and the right tasks to be performed to achieve the objectives from the usability test. This article presents the development of an usability test aimed to evaluate the experience while first interacting with a product by using the augmented reality technology. This usability test is part of a bigger research that aims to evaluate if the use of augmented reality helps the process of learning how to use a new product. The paper starts with a literature review of related works, explaining many of the tools developed for evaluating usability tests. This section is followed by a methodological explain and the description of the developed usability test itself. The conclusion presents suggestions of further improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: In the global economy, motivating people to engage and stay in their work is a challenge for organizations. Researchers are increasingly recognizing the need for promoting strong employee engagement in the workplace. OBJECTIVE: This paper examines the effect of employee work engagement on turnover intention. The study focuses on the mediating role of trust that underpins the relationship between employee work engagement and turnover intention, and the moderating role of job embeddedness in influencing the effect of trust. METHOD: Survey data were collected from 418 employees from private media organizations. Hierarchical regression analysis and moderated mediation analysis were employed to test the hypotheses. RESULTS: The results indicate that trust mediates the relationship between employee work engagement and turnover intention. Job embeddedness moderates the strength of the mediated relationship between employee work engagement and turnover intention via trust, such that the mediated relationship is weaker under high job embeddedness than under low job embeddedness. CONCLUSION: This paper described the relationships among the concepts of work engagement, job embeddedness, trust, and turnover intention from a novel direction. Theoretical and practical consequences of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Appropriate body image self-perceptions provide a good help to increase the feeling of personal well-being, thus having an important impact on health. Universities, having an important role in shaping of the future workers, represent an important setting to approach health issues. OBJECTIVE: This study determined to what extent different types of students in higher education (four categories of students were created: "self-secure", "perfect", "destructive" and "apologetic") are likely to adopt different health risk behaviors. METHODS: A cross-sectional study in a sample of students from five European Universities in the 2016/2017 academic year was conducted. Based on the combination of body image perception and body mass index, four types of students were identified: "self-secure" (overweight students with a good self-esteem); "perfect" (underweight students with a good self-esteem); "destructive" (overweight students with a poor self-esteem); "apologetic" (underweight students with a poor self-esteem). RESULTS: The study reveals that the defined types of students differed in terms of risk behavior. When the control was included, the "self-secure" student type had a reduced likelihood of being on a diet (22.3%) and physically active (17.8%) than other students (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this paper raise concerns about the future because the body dissatisfaction of the college student could be a big impact in long term whether at collective, personally or even professionally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: As guardians of the public interest, auditors represent a unique occupational group. The group that has shown to experience high level of stress and overload is often being associated with environmentally imposed responsibility as well as organizationally imposed performance demands. It is the latter aspects, represented by the concept of organizational culture, that is being highlighted in this paper and its relationship to auditor's well-being OBJECTIVES: The paper aims to explore organizational culture as an antecedent of auditors' well-being, which is assumed to have important consequences for the quality of auditors' work. METHODS: This study is based on a survey of 207 Swedish auditors. Using established and validated instruments measuring aspects of organizational culture and personal well-being, the study employed correlations and multiple regression analysis in testing the relationship between the two. RESULTS: The results of the study suggest that an increasing degree of collectivistic organizational culture has a positive relationship with three aspects of well-being: Job satisfaction, life balance and life satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first attempt to explore well-being of auditors and its antecedents represented by organizational culture. Contrary to the expectation that auditors take an individualistic approach to their work, this study establishes that auditors feel best in a work environment characterized by a collectivist organizational culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The rate of employment for adults diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is low. This may be due in part to repetitive or disruptive behaviors associated with the ASD diagnosis and challenges to delivering services in the workplace. OBJECTIVE: This paper outlines a behavior analytic approach to providing job coaching supports in collaboration with employers in an inclusive setting. METHODS: A case example for a 26-year-old male (22 at the time of this project) diagnosed with ASD, employed as a data entry specialist, is highlighted. An A-B design was used to evaluate the impact of behavior analytic interventions on the rate of disruptive vocalizations. Behavior analysts and job coaches from a university-based team worked with employers to identify feasible and effective strategies. RESULTS: Rates of vocalizations decreased and maintained for 5 months following intervention fading. Social acceptability ratings from key office personnel reflected improved coworker relations and a high degree of acceptability for procedures used by the team. CONCLUSIONS: Employer collaboration was necessary for intervention design and decision making. Service providers should consider response effort for employers, the degree of normalization of strategies, how to limit disruption to productivity and the work setting, and methods for fading interventions or components of interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. The paper considers some of the strategic issues confronting national statistical institutes (NSIs) as they prepare for the 2000 round of censuses. The pace of technological change, more than at any time in the past, will have enormous implications for how NSIs collect, process and disseminate census information. The decision whether to adopt an incremental or "big-bang" approach to the introduction of increased technology in some or all phases of the census operation will, therefore, present a major challenge. The delivery and collection methodologies in use for census questionnaires have undergone critical reappraisal in a number of countries in the course of recent censuses. Greater consideration is being given to the use of mailing rather than delivery and collection by enumerators. The predominant method of data capture used in censuses up to and including the 1990 round was to key the information directly to disk. Most NSIs are now turning to the use of scanning and recognition technology, given the potential this offers to streamline processing systems. Issues concerned with the use of automatic coding techniques are also reported on. These are particularly relevant in the context of the greater use of scanning and recognition technology. Finally the paper deals with what is considered to be the major challenge facing statistical organisations for the next round of censuses i.e. the timely provision of accurate results. Without exception, users are calling for the results of censuses to be made available more quickly and in a more flexible fashion than before. The dissemination area is therefore the one where gains in technology will be most conspicuous to the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]