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Background: Exposure to COVID‐19 is more likely among certain occupations compared with others. This descriptive study seeks to explore occupational differences in mortality due to COVID‐19 among workers in Massachusetts. Methods: Death certificates of those who died from COVID‐19 in Massachusetts between March 1 and July 31, 2020 were collected. Occupational information was coded and age‐adjusted mortality rates were calculated according to occupation. Results: There were 555 deaths among MA residents of age 16–64, with usable occupation information, resulting in an age‐adjusted mortality rate of 16.4 per 100,000 workers. Workers in 11 occupational groups including healthcare support and transportation and material moving had mortality rates higher than that for workers overall. Hispanic and Black workers had age‐adjusted mortality rates more than four times higher than that for White workers overall and also had higher rates than Whites within high‐risk occupation groups. Conclusion: Efforts should be made to protect workers in high‐risk occupations identified in this report from COVID‐19 exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It remains uncertain whether the hypertension (HT) medications angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) mitigate or exacerbate SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. We evaluated the association of ACEi and ARB with severe coronavirus disease 19 (COVID‐19) as defined by hospitalization or mortality among individuals diagnosed with COVID‐19. We investigated whether these associations were modified by age, the simultaneous use of the diuretic thiazide, and the health conditions associated with medication use. In an observational study utilizing data from a Massachusetts group medical practice, we identified 1449 patients with a COVID‐19 diagnosis. In our study, pre‐infection comorbidities including HT, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes were associated with increased risk of severe COVID‐19. Risk was further elevated in patients under age 65 with these comorbidities or cancer. Twenty percent of those with severe COVID‐19 compared to 9% with less severe COVID‐19 used ACEi, 8% and 4%, respectively, used ARB. In propensity score‐matched analyses, use of neither ACEi (OR = 1.30, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.81) nor ARB (OR = 0.94, 95% CI 0.57 to 1.55) was associated with increased risk of severe COVID‐19. Thiazide use did not modify this relationship. Beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, and anticoagulant medications were not associated with COVID‐19 severity. In conclusion, cardiovascular‐related comorbidities were associated with severe COVID‐19 outcomes, especially among patients under age 65. We found no substantial increased risk of severe COVID‐19 among patients taking antihypertensive medications. Our findings support recommendations against discontinuing use of renin–angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitors to prevent severe COVID‐19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Home care (HC) aide is among the fastest‐growing jobs. Aides often work in long‐term care relationships with elders or people with disabilities in clients' homes, assisting with daily activities. The purpose of this mixed‐methods paper is to elucidate aides' experiences around the boundary‐challenging behaviors of clients asking for services beyond aides' job duties and to identify possible interventions. Methods: A cross‐sectional survey of HC aides in Massachusetts (n = 1249) provided quantitative data. Post‐survey qualitative data were collected from nine HC aide focus groups (n = 70) and seven in‐depth interviews with HC industry and labor representatives. Results: Quantitatively, aides who reported often being asked to do tasks outside their job duties were more likely to report abuse (prevalence ratio [PR] = 1.93; 95%CI: 1.47‐2.52 for verbal, PR = 1.81; 95%CI: 1.13‐2.91 for physical/sexual) and pain/injury with lost work time or medical care (PR = 1.58; 95%CI: 1.11‐2.25). They were also less likely to want to remain in their job (PR = 0.94; 95%CI: 0.89‐1.00) or recommend it to others (PR = 0.94; 95%CI: 0.90‐0.98). Qualitative data showed that clients' requests for tasks beyond job duties were frequent and can lead to injuries, abuse, and psychosocial stress. Yet, requests often reflected genuine need. Helping clients stay at home, compassion, and feeling appreciated contributed to job satisfaction; therefore, aides can feel conflicted about refusing requests. Conclusion: Client task requests outside HC services are a complex problem. Employer support, training, care plans, and feeling part of a care team can help aides navigate professional boundaries while delivering high quality care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We conducted external comparisons for the prevalence of asthma, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer among World Trade Center (WTC) general responders using the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) as the reference, along with internal comparisons for the incidence of asthma. Methods: Standardized Morbidity Ratios (SMRs) were calculated for the prevalence of the health conditions, and risk ratios (RRs) for asthma incidence. Results: Relative to the NHIS, asthma prevalence was in excess in responders over the study years (age‐adjusted SMRs = 1.3‐2.8). Hypertension prevalence began to exceed expected from 2006 while diabetes was lower than expected. An upward trend towards excess cancer prevalence was observed. Internal comparisons showed elevated asthma incidence among protective service and utility workers compared to construction workers; while those who arrived at the WTC site in the morning of 9/11 had a lower asthma risk than those who arrived in the afternoon. Conclusions: The use of NHIS data as a reference population demonstrates and reconfirms several important patterns of excess risk in WTC responders. External comparisons are an alternative for disaster cohorts without an established comparison group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Developing nations carry a substantial portion of the global burden of injury, but without reliable injury surveillance, there is no way to characterize or prioritize the causes of work-related injury for prevention. Methods Injury data from 52 treatment sites in the Xuan Tien Commune, Vietnam with over 10,000 inhabitants were collected between January 1 and December 31, 2006. Injured residents were interviewed to determine work-relatedness, relevant causes, disability, and burden. Results Five hundred four work-related injuries were reported from formal treatment sites (incidence rate of 87 per 1,000 FTE) with a mean lost work day of 11 days. Four thousand five hundred seventy-four lost work day equivalents were estimated based on actual days lost to recover plus work days lost earning income to pay for medical costs, accumulating a total direct burden to the community of 8,641 lost work day equivalents. Almost half of that burden was caused by work in manufacturing. First aid boxes placed in 40 manufacturing enterprises yielded the 2nd highest reporting source. Conclusion This study demonstrated the feasibility and value at the local level to build an active injury surveillance system which could have a large impact on preventing the burden of injuries in workplaces in Vietnam. Am. J. Ind. Med. 55:205-216, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which evaluates a conceptual model for using near-misses for sharps injuries (SI) and other blood/body fluid exposures (BBFE) and its usage in statistical analysis of SI and BBFE risk factors. The study conducted a survey of home healthcare (HHC) nurses and aides which questions focused on the circumstances leading up to the SI, BBFE, and near misses. It says that data on event and near-misses confirms that part time HHC aides were at higher risk than full-timers.

The article presents a study on the sociodemographic influences on the agreement between individual reports and expert ratings of workplace exposures. It says that 1,282 employees at four industries and 14 worksites were given questionnaires on workplace exposure for a 12 month period while occupational hygienists used an exposure evaluation checklist. The study concluded that there was poor agreement between the reports and that it was affected by factors which included gender, age and race.

The article presents a case study which examines the role of benzene exposure in causing leukemia and multiple myeloma (MM) in Italy. The study involves the assessment of patients' exposure at individual level to a range of chemicals. The authors claim that they found no association between exposure to any solvent and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). They also found elevated point estimates for the associations between medium/high benzene exposure and chronic lymphatic leukemia.

This article presents a study regarding cancer incidence among male firefighters in Massachusetts from 1987 to 2003. The study aims to investigate the elevated risks of various types of cancers in firefighters because firefighters are known to be exposed to recognizable or probable carcinogens. Standardized morbidity odds ratio were employed to examine the cancer risk in white, male firefighters compared to police and all other occupations recorded in the Massachusetts Cancer Registry from 1986 to 2003.

The article presents a study on the effects of job strain on survey response among workers in the healthcare industry. The study examines 1,613 healthcare workers using questionnaires wherein job strain was defined by the ratio of job demands to job control. Binomial pseudo Poisson regressions and multi-level logistic models were used to find the correlations between factors including survey response, job strain, socioeconomic status, and demographic variables. The study found that survey response was affected by less job strain and high socioeconomic status .

The development of a new sensor generation with a significant performance gain is mainly aimed at increasing the sensitivity. In addition to that, a variety of properties such as integrability, power consumption, robustness, reliability, cross‐talk sensitivity, and others, can be equally important. Some properties scale directly with sensitivity, whereas others show trade‐off characteristics. An overview of different approaches for new sensor generations with enhanced performance is presented and discussed in this article. The main focus is on new microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) elements, fabricated within a standard high‐aspect‐ratio micromachining process and capacitive working principle. Herein, a novel MEMS‐based bandpass, a gap reduction technique, fluted electrodes for reduced damping, and a novel direct current/direct current (DC/DC) converter, is proposed. Acoustic emission sensing is chosen as example application to underline the challenging requirements for the design. Furthermore, the recent improvements in technology are presented. Based on bonding and deep reactive ion etching (BDRIE), it allows larger aspect ratios as well as through‐silicon vias and low‐pressure encapsulation. Consistent further miniaturization leads to the use of nanoscopic elements within MEMS as sensing component instead of the conventional electrostatic working principle. Unique properties of graphene rolls or carbon nanotubes (CNTs) enable promising sensitivity improvements if they are integrated at wafer‐level. Therefore, a design concept and formal verification‐tool is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Firefighters are known to be exposed to recognized or probable carcinogens. Previous studies have found elevated risks of several types of cancers in firefighters., Methods: Standardized morbidity odds ratio (SMORs) were used to evaluate the cancer risk in white, male firefighters compared to police and all other occupations in the Massachusetts Cancer Registry from 1986 to 2003. Firefighters and police were identified by text search of the usual occupation field. All other occupations included cases with identifiable usual occupations not police or firefighter. Control cancers were those not associated with firefighters in previous studies., Results: Risks were moderately elevated among firefighters for colon cancer (SMOR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.04-1.79), and brain cancer (SMOR = 1.90, 95% CI: 1.10-3.26). Weaker evidence of increased risk was observed for bladder cancer (SMOR = 1.22, 95% CI: 0.89-1.69), kidney cancer (SMOR = 1.34, 95% CI: 0.90-2.01), and Hodgkin's lymphoma (SMOR = 1.81, 95% CI: 0.72-4.53)., Conclusions: These findings are compatible with previous reports, adding to the evidence that firefighters are at increased risk of a number of types of cancer., ((c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Background: Most occupational studies evaluate a single exposure in relation to a particular disease. However, workers typically experience multiple exposures simultaneously. There is also increasing evidence of disparities in health by sociodemographic characteristics, mostly related to social position such as gender, race/ethnicity, immigration status, income, and education. Little information exists on the worker experience of multiple occupational exposures as they vary among social groups. The objectives of this article were to: assess the burden of exposures reported within 1 year by a socially diverse population working in a range of industries; and evaluate whether sociodemographic characteristics affected the patterns of these exposures., Methods: Study participants were from 14 unionized worksites in meat processing, electrical lighting manufacturing, retail grocery stores, and school bus driving. A cross-sectional study design used a self-administered, computer-assisted questionnaire (English and Spanish) to assess sociodemographic characteristics and nine workplace exposures, within the past year. An interviewer-administered job history also was collected., Results: Twelve hundred eighty-two workers (72%) completed the survey: 36% women, 23% Latino, 39% black, 24% white, and 48% born outside the US. The prevalence of high exposures ranged from 21% (chemicals) to 39% (neck strain). Forty-six percent reported three or more high exposures. Exposure reporting varied among sociodemographic groups. Some of the disparities were explained by the jobs held by different groups, but after statistically controlling for job, many disparities remained., Conclusions: Sociodemographic characteristics should be considered when conducting exposure assessments using questionnaires. More research is needed to understand how social characteristics may influence exposures.

Background: Imputed job characteristics had been used as proxy of exposure to working conditions. O*NET database provides job information that could be useful to evaluate psychosocial working conditions., Methods: Consistency and total agreement between O*NET and self-reported psychosocial exposure (demand/control (DC), effort/reward (ER) proxy models, and emotional labor scale) were compared between healthcare specific (12 occupations, 215 workers) and other jobs (12 occupations, 146 workers)., Results: For dimensions of the DC and ER models, Spearman correlation and ICC coefficients were, in general, consistently high (ICC = 0.61 for decision latitude, 0.41 for rewards, 0.53 for ER ratio, and lower for others), particularly in the healthcare specific jobs., Conclusion: O*NET and questionnaire based psychosocial indicators showed a good job level agreement particularly on healthcare specific jobs. O*NET may be a useful source of job level psychosocial exposure, especially for the DC and ER models, for healthcare occupations within these types of facilities.

Background: Ragpickers are informal workers who collect recyclable materials to earn a small wage. Their life and working conditions are extremely precarious. The ergonomic hazards and musculoskeletal pain in a sample of ragpickers in Pelotas, a city in southern Brazil are examined., Methods: Two comparison groups were available: a matched sample of non-ragpickers from the same poor neighborhoods, and a random sample of the general population of the city. The cross-sectional study gathered data by interview on 990 individuals in 2004. Musculoskeletal pain was assessed using the Standardized Nordic Questionnaire., Results: Ragpickers reported higher prevalences for most awkward postures and ergonomic exposures compared to neighbors with other demanding manual jobs. The prevalence within the last 12 months of low back pain (LBP), lower extremity pain (LEP), and upper extremity pain (UEP) among ragpickers were 49.2%, 45.1%, and 34.9%, respectively; levels similar to those reported by neighborhood controls. Both ragpickers and non-ragpickers reported considerably higher ergonomic exposures, and more prevalent LBP, than the general population., Conclusions: Ragpickers experience many occupational hazards and ergonomic stressors. Their overall prevalence of musculoskeletal pain was similar to a comparison group with other physically demanding manual jobs. For LBP, this prevalence was substantially higher (49% vs. 35%) than in the general population., (Copyright 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Background: Metalworking fluids (MWF) are used for lubrication during metal manufacturing. Previous studies have observed increased risks of several cancers among MWF-exposed workers. We hypothesized that MWF may be associated with risk of breast cancer because they can contain carcinogenic or endocrine-disrupting chemicals., Methods: We conducted a case-control study nested in a cohort of 4,680 female automobile workers employed for at least 3 years between 1/1/41 and 1/1/85, with follow-up through 1994. Cases were identified using the National Death Index (NDI), Michigan cancer registries, and company records. Detailed quantitative MWF exposure data were available for each subject, although data on known breast cancer risk factors were not., Results: Ninety-nine cases of breast cancer and 626 matched controls were identified. There was a weak positive association between lifetime cumulative exposure to soluble MWF and breast cancer risk, but no evidence of association with either straight or synthetic fluids. When exposure was divided into time-windows, the association was strongest for soluble MWF in the decade preceding diagnosis. Controlling for earlier exposures, there was an odds ratio of 1.18 (95% CI=1.02-1.35) per mg/m3-year of cumulative exposure to soluble MWF in this 10-year period., Conclusion: This hypothesis-generating study provides some preliminary evidence for an association between exposure to soluble MWF and increased risk of breast cancer. Additional studies of MWF and breast cancer, with data on known breast cancer risk factors, are warranted.