Work-related stress in three groups with specific homogeneous tasks

In relation to the medico-social and medico-legal aspects of stress we have studied the effects of stress on different working populations. Background: Stress is the second most common work-related health problem, affecting about 22% of workers in the EU. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (2000) defines work-related stress as a condition that "occurs when the demands of the work environment exceed the ability of workers to cope with it". In the evaluation of this work-related stress it is of fundamental importance to identify the factors capable of generating and increasing it in order to identify categories of subjects particularly at risk and plan interventions for the prevention, elimination or reduction of risk. Material and methods: Tasks analysed: -Administrative (n.519) -Drivers/porters/doormen/workers (n.103) -Social workers/educators/teachers (n. 31) Subjective: Stress was first assessed in the three groups, and then stratification by sex was carried out, assessing stress in the male-female subgroups. Results: The new and original results allow the correction of situations defined as critical, through original and new, preventive, never applied, protocols, which are at the forefront of the preventive technological procedures already known. Conclusions: Our research showed that for most of the tasks analysed, in the various and specific tasks in comparison with each other, never studied before and compared with each other, the level of stress for some areas was found in comparison to be much higher in some tasks

Different Jobs, Different Perceived Stress: A Work-Related Stress Analytical Study

Background: Subjective cognitive decline is considered to be a risk for Alzheimer’s disease. However, it can also be associated with non-cognitive variables. Objectives: This study analyzes the association between Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD) and variables related to memory, mental health, morbidity, pain, quality of life, loneliness, lifestyle, and social aspects; analyzes predictors of SCD. Methods: Cross-sectional epidemiological study of a sample of individuals randomly selected from a city census. Telephone interviews were conducted with 1775 individuals aged over 55 years. We administered a 7-item questionnaire on SCD and asked about health, lifestyle, and social variables; we also administered a measure of general mental health, the Goldberg Health Questionnaire, and the health-related quality of life scale COOP/ WONCA. Results: SCD showed statistically significant associations with orientation in time (r=0.16), mental health variables (r=0.41), quality of life (r=0.36), loneliness (Eta =0.04), disability (R =0.05), pain (R =0.12), hearing difficulties (R =0.03), vision problems (R =0.05), and chronic disease (R =0.04). The variables orientation in time, mental health, depression, sleep quality, multimorbidity, and hearing difficulties were identified as predictors of SCD (p<0.001; R =0.30). Conclusion: The heterogeneity of the variables associated with SCD should be taken into account to differentiate individuals at increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease from those in whom the condition may be explained by other factors

Overweight and urban pollution: preliminary results

The aim of this study is to determine whether in workers exposed to urban pollution the risk of developing overweight and obesity is higher in workers exposed to urban pollution compared to a control group. The study was conducted on 150 volunteers, 75 workers exposed to urban pollution (50 women and 25 men) and 75 indoor workers (50 women and 25 men). Once measured the weight and height and calculated body mass index (BMI) for each worker, the research was based on the comparison, between the two groups, of the mean values of the measurements and of the frequency of workers with BMI index higher than the cut-off of normality. The only statistically significant difference found was for the mean value of weight in women, which was higher among outdoor workers compared to indoor workers. The mean values of BMI and the frequency of workers with BMI higher than normal was higher among outdoor workers compared to indoor workers in both sexes, but not statistically significant. The data suggest that outdoor workers may be subject to an additional risk of developing obesity as a result of exposure to urban air pollution (which, like obesity, is a source of oxidative stress). So, our preliminary study encourages to continue this line of research by implementing the sample and considering all the confounding factors. Furthermore, the results highlight the necessity to take account of gender differences in the context of health surveillance of workers