Publications

INTRODUCTION

Taxi drivers are at high risk for low back pain (LBP).

AIM

Identify the association between psychosocial-work factors (Job strain, Iso-strain, effort-reward imbalance [ERI], unfairness, and mental exertion) and LBP in taxi drivers.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was done with 129 taxi drivers.

RESULTS

Approximately 63% reported LBP in the prior 12 months. Chi square or t-test analyses identified the associations between demographic, work, health, and psychosocial work factors, and self-report of LBP in the prior 12 months. Depression, perceived physical exertion, dispatcher and manager support, unfair treatment at work, and unfair treatment due to nationality were significantly associated with LBP in bivariate analyses. Multivariate logistic regression was done to identify the predictors of LBP. High dispatcher support remained the sole significant predictor for lower prevalence of LBP (OR = 0.66, P = 0.017).

CONCLUSION

Greater understanding of psychosocial work factors may aid in developing interventions to prevent LBP in taxi drivers.

Wildland firefighters suppressing wildland fires or conducting prescribed fires work long shifts during which they are exposed to high levels of wood smoke with no respiratory protection. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are hazardous air pollutants formed during incomplete combustion. Exposure to PAHs was measured for 21 wildland firefighters suppressing two wildland fires and 4 wildland firefighters conducting prescribed burns in California. Personal air samples were actively collected using XAD4-coated quartz fiber filters and XAD2 sorbent tubes. Samples were analyzed for 17 individual PAHs through extraction with dichloromethane and gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer analysis. Naphthalene, retene, and phenanthrene were consistently the highest measured PAHs. PAH concentrations were higher at wildland fires compared to prescribed fires and were highest for firefighters during job tasks that involve the most direct contact with smoke near an actively burning wildland fire. Although concentrations did not exceed current occupational exposure limits, wildland firefighters are exposed to PAHs not only on the fire line at wildland fires, but also while working prescribed burns and while off-duty. Characterization of occupational exposures from wildland firefighting is important to understand better any potential long-term health effects.

CONTEXT

An important question in symptom clusters research is whether the number and types of symptom clusters vary based on the specific dimension of the symptom experience used to create the clusters.

OBJECTIVES

Given that lung cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy (CTX) report an average of 14 co-occurring symptoms and studies of symptom clusters in these patients are limited, the purpose of this study, in lung cancer patients undergoing CTX (n = 145), was to identify whether the number and types of symptom clusters differed based on whether symptom occurrence rates or symptom severity ratings were used to create the clusters.

METHODS

A modified version of the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale was used to assess for the occurrence and severity of 38 symptoms, one week after the administration of CTX. Exploratory factor analysis was used to extract the symptom clusters.

RESULTS

Both the number and types of symptom clusters were relatively similar using symptom occurrence rates or symptom severity ratings. Five symptom clusters were identified using both symptom occurrence rates and severity ratings (i.e., sickness behavior, lung cancer specific, psychological, nutritional, and epithelial). Across these two dimensions, the specific symptoms within each of the symptom clusters were relatively similar.

CONCLUSIONS

Identification of symptom clusters in patients with lung cancer may assist with the development of more targeted symptom management interventions. Future studies are warranted to determine if symptom clusters change over a cycle of CTX in patients with lung cancer.