Effect of Body Mass Index on work related musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational stress of computer workers in a developed ergonomic setup

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Work urgency, accuracy and demands compel the computer professionals to spend longer hours before computers without giving importance to their health, especially body weight. Increase of body weight leads to improper Body Mass Index (BMI) may aggravate work related musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational-psychosocial stress. The objective of the study was to find out the effect of BMI on work related musculoskeletal discomforts and occupational stress of computer workers in a developed ergonomic setup.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A descriptive inferential study has been taken to analyze the effect of BMI on work related musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational-psychosocial stress. A total of 100 computer workers, aged 25-35 years randomly selected on convenience from software and BPO companies in Bangalore city, India for the participation in this study. BMI was calculated by taking the ratio of the subject's height (in meter) and weight (in kilogram). Work related musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational stress of the subjects was assessed by Cornell University's musculoskeletal discomfort questionnaire (CMDQ) and occupational stress index (OSI) respectively as well as a relationship was checked with their BMI.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A significant association (p < 0.001) was seen among high BMI subjects with their increase scores of musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational stress.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>From this study, it has been concluded that, there is a significant effect of BMI in increasing of work related musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational-psychosocial stress among computer workers in a developed ergonomic setup.</p

Preoperative medical treatment in Cushing&apos;s syndrome : frequency of use and its impact on postoperative assessment : data from ERCUSYN

Background: Surgery is the definitive treatment of Cushing's syndrome (CS) but medications may also be used as a first-line therapy. Whether preoperative medical treatment (PMT) affects postoperative outcome remains controversial. Objective: (1) Evaluate how frequently PMT is given to CS patients across Europe; (2) examine differences in preoperative characteristics of patients who receive PMT and those who undergo primary surgery and (3) determine if PMT influences postoperative outcome in pituitary-dependent CS (PIT-CS). Patients and methods: 1143 CS patients entered into the ERCUSYN database from 57 centers in 26 countries. Sixty-nine percent had PIT-CS, 25% adrenal-dependent CS (ADR-CS), 5% CS from an ectopic source (ECT-CS) and 1% were classified as having CS from other causes (OTH-CS). Results: Twenty per cent of patients took PMT. ECT-CS and PIT-CS were more likely to receive PMT compared to ADR-CS (P < 0.001). Most commonly used drugs were ketoconazole (62%), metyrapone (16%) and a combination of both (12%). Median (interquartile range) duration of PMT was 109 (98) days. PIT-CS patients treated with PMT had more severe clinical features at diagnosis and poorer quality of life compared to those undergoing primary surgery (SX) (P < 0.05). Within 7 days of surgery, PIT-CS patients treated with PMT were more likely to have normal cortisol (P < 0.01) and a lower remission rate (P < 0.01). Within 6 months of surgery, no differences in morbidity or remission rates were observed between SX and PMT groups. Conclusions: PMT may confound the interpretation of immediate postoperative outcome. Follow-up is recommended to definitely evaluate surgical results

Do long-term changes in relative maxillary arch width affect buccal-corridor ratios in extraction and nonextraction treatment?

PubMed ID: 21392691Introduction: Our aims were to evaluate long-term maxillary arch width changes in orthodontic patients treated with and without premolar extractions and to provide a potential link to the buccal-corridor ratios. Methods: Dental casts of 34 extraction and 32 nonextraction orthodontic patients with Class I malocclusions were digitized and evaluated before treatment (T1), at posttreatment (T2), and at postretention (T3). The mean postretention times for the extraction and the nonextraction groups were 5 years 2 months and 4 years 10 months, respectively. Specific arch width measurements were made on the anatomic y-axis of the casts between the most labial aspects of the anatomic dental arch immediately distal to the incisive papilla, the farthest point posteriorly of the conjunction of the third lateral and medial rugae on the midpalatal raphe and at an individually constant distance from the incisive papilla. Arch width changes were calculated and compared statistically to determine whether the dental arches were narrower after extraction treatment and at postretention. Results: All maxillary arch width measurements remained virtually stable after extraction therapy and at the postretention follow-up. Significant increases were recorded for all maxillary arch width measurements in the nonextraction group after treatment (mean changes, 1.37-2.05 mm). Posterior arch width measurements decreased significantly between T2 and T3 (mean change, 0.5 mm). Mean changes between T1 and T2 were significant between the 2 groups for all measurements (P <0.05). Only the mean change in posterior arch width was significant between the 2 groups in the postretention period (P <0.05). Conclusions: Extraction treatment did not result in narrower maxillary dental arches, whereas nonextraction treatment slightly expanded the dental arch. Copyright © 2011 by the American Association of Orthodontists

Temporal trends in the epidemiology of HIV in Turkey

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the temporal trends of HIV epidemiology in Turkey from 2011 to 2016. Methods: Thirty-four teams from 28 centers at 17 different cities participated in this retrospective study. Participating centers were asked to complete a structured form containing questions about epidemiologic, demographic and clinical characteristics of patients presented with new HIV diagnosis between 2011 and 2016. Demographic data from all centers (complete or partial) were included in the analyses. For the cascade of care analysis, 15 centers that provided full data from 2011 to 2016 were included. Overall and an-nual distributions of the data were calculated as percentages and the Chi square test was used to determine temporal changes. Results: A total of 2,953 patients between 2011 and 2016 were included. Overall male to female ratio was 5:1 with a significant increase in the number of male cases from 2011 to 2016 (p;lt;0.001). The highest prevalence was among those aged 25-34 years followed by the 35-44 age bracket. The most common rea-son for HIV testing was illness (35%). While the frequency of sex among men who have sex with men increased from 16% to 30.6% (p;lt;0.001) over the study period, heterosexual intercourse (53%) was found to be the most common transmission route. Overall, 29% of the cases presented with a CD4 count of ;gt;500 cells/mm3 while 46.7% presented with a CD4 T cell count of ;lt;350 cells/mm3. Among newly diagnosed cases, 79% were retained in care, and all such cases initiated ART with 73% achieving viral suppression after six months of antiretroviral therapy. Conclusion: The epidemiologic profile of HIV infected individuals is changing rapidly in Turkey with an increasing trend in the number of newly diagnosed people disclosing themselves as MSM. New diagnoses were mostly at a young age. The late diagnosis was found to be a challenging issue. Despite the unavailability of data for the first 90, Turkey is close to the last two steps of 90-90-90 targets. © 2020 Bentham Science Publishers