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Background: On-call research and guidance materials typically focus on 'traditional' on-call work (e.g., emergency services, healthcare). However, given the increasing prevalence of non-standard employment arrangements (e.g., gig work and casualisation), it is likely that a proportion of individuals who describe themselves as being on-call are not included in current on-call literature. This study therefore aimed to describe the current sociodemographic and work characteristics of Australian on-call workers. Methods: A survey of 2044 adults assessed sociodemographic and work arrangements. Of this population, 1057 individuals were workforce participants, who were asked to provide information regarding any on-call work they performed over the last three months, occupation type, weekly work hours, and the presence or absence of non-standard work conditions. Results: Of respondents who were working, 45.5% reported working at least one day on-call in the previous month. There was a high prevalence of on-call work in younger respondents (63.1% of participants aged 18–24 years), and those who worked multiple jobs and more weekly work hours. Additionally, high prevalence rates of on-call work were reported by machinery operators, drivers, community and personal service workers, sales workers, and high-level managers. Conclusions: These data suggest that on-call work is more prevalent than previously recorded and is likely to refer to a broad set of employment arrangements. Current classification systems may therefore be inadequate for population-level research. A taxonomy for the classification of on-call work is proposed, incorporating traditional on-call work, gig economy work, relief, or unscheduled work, and out of hours work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Paramedics are routinely exposed to shift work. Existing research shows that shift work exposure is associated with adverse mental and physical health outcomes. However, the current understanding of the impact of commencing shift work in a paramedic role on health is limited. This can be addressed by recruiting new paramedics before they commence shift work, and conducting regular follow-ups of potential biological, psychological and social changes. The present study aimed to examine changes in biological, psychological and social factors relative to pre-shift work baseline in a cohort of paramedics commencing intern employment with an Australian ambulance service., Method and Analysis: This observational, mixed-methods, longitudinal study aims to recruit 40 interns from one Australian ambulance service. Data collection will occur at baseline (standard day schedule for initial training), and subsequently at three months, six months, nine months and twelve months, to measure biological, psychological and social changes relative to baseline measurements. Changes in cardiometabolic markers (cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose), microbiome (self-collected stool samples), sleep and physical activity (actigraphy) will be measured. Interns will also complete a battery of self-report questionnaires, sleep diaries and qualitative interviews to explore various psychological and social variables over time. Statistical analyses will be conducted using mixed effects regression, specifying a random effect of subject on the intercept, allowing participants to vary according to individual baseline levels, as well as tracking progress over time, appropriately accounting for serial correlation. Qualitative study components will be analysed via coding and thematic analysis procedures., Discussion: The present study protocol is a comprehensive outline of the observational study planned. The study will allow for greater knowledge of any changes in biological, psychological and social factors during a 12-month transition to shift work. The findings from the proposed study will have implications for the development of strategies to support early-career shift workers., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2022 Crowther et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Few studies have investigated the relationship between physical activity (PA) of low intensity and duration with quality of life (QoL) among individuals at risk or with cardiovascular disease (CVD)., Objectives: To investigate whether PA of different intensity and duration moderates the relationship between CVD and its risk factors (obesity, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidaemia) and QoL in adults., Methods: Population-based cross-sectional studies using data from the EpiFloripa Cohort Study (Southern Brazil; n = 1,220, 38.8±12.0 years, 48.2% males) and the North West Adelaide Health Study (NWAHS, South Australia; n = 1,661, 43.7±11.1 years, 49.7% males). The physical and psychological domains of QoL were assessed using the WHOQOL-Bref (EpiFloripa) or the SF-36 (NWAHS) questionnaires. The diagnosis of CVD and its risk factors were self-reported. PA was self-reported and quantified by its intensity ["walking" or moderate/vigorous (MVPA)] and duration (none, 1-150, ≥150 min/week). Both studies were analysed separately, and results were adjusted for sociodemographic variables., Results: Participants at risk or with CVD from both studies showed a lower QoL than 'healthy' individuals with a stronger relationship for the physical domain. PA duration showed a direct-trend relationship with QoL, but the associations were stronger for MVPA in both studies. However, when stratified by health status, the magnitude of the association between "walking" duration and a higher physical QoL was greater among those at risk or with CVD compared to 'healthy' individuals. Conversely, among Australians with CVD, MVPA was associated with a better physical QoL only when its duration was ≥150 min/week. All associations were stronger in the NWAHS than in the Brazilian study., Conclusions: "Walking" was more prevalent than MVPA and was consistently associated with a better physical QoL among those at risk or with CVD. These findings should be considered in the design of public health interventions designed to increase PA and improve QoL., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Purpose: A number of previous studies have shown inconsistencies between sub-scale scores and component summary scores using traditional scoring methods of the SF-36 version 1. This study addresses the issue in Version 2 and asks if the previous problems of disagreement between the eight SF-36 Version 1 sub-scale scores and the Physical and Mental Component Summary persist in version 2. A second study objective is to review the recommended scoring methods for the creation of factor scoring weights and the effect on producing summary scale scores., Methods: The 2004 South Australian Health Omnibus Survey dataset was used for the production of coefficients. There were 3,014 observations with full data for the SF-36. Data were analysed in LISREL V8.71. Confirmatory factor analysis models were fit to the data producing diagonally weighted least squares estimates. Scoring coefficients were validated on an independent dataset, the 2008 South Australian Health Omnibus Survey., Results: Problems of agreement were observed with the recommended orthogonal scoring methods which were corrected using confirmatory factor analysis., Conclusions: Confirmatory factor analysis is the preferred method to analyse SF-36 data, allowing for the correlation between physical and mental health.