A prospective cohort study of presenteeism and poverty among Japanese workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the association of presenteeism with experiences of poverty among Japanese workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A prospective cohort study of Japanese workers was conducted using an Internet monitoring survey. The baseline survey was conducted in December 2020, and a follow-up survey in December 2021. Of the 27 036 workers who participated, 18 560 (68.7%) completed the follow-up survey. The 11 081 who reported that they were not in financial difficulty in the baseline survey were included in the analysis. The degree of work functioning impairment was assessed at baseline using the Work Functioning Impairment Scale (WFun). Households' experience of not being able to pay for food and clothing was identified in the follow-up survey. The odds ratios (ORs) of presenteeism determined by WFun associated with poverty were estimated using a multilevel logistic model. The multivariate model included age, sex, marital status, job type, income, education, smoking, alcohol consumption, number of employees in the workplace, and the incidence rate of COVID-19 by prefecture at baseline. RESULTS: In the multivariate model, the odds ratio of experiencing food insecurity increased with high WFun score: compared with WFun scores of 13 or less, the OR was 1.87 (95% CI: 1.43-2.43, P < .001) for WFun scores of 14 or more and 3.26 (95% CI: 2.58-4.12, P < .001) for WFun scores of 21 or more. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to labor productivity, the adverse effects of presenteeism on social security-related concerns such as poverty require further attention.

MCNP SIMULATIONS WITH A PERSONALISED VOXEL PHANTOM TO VERIFY 131I CONTENT IN THYROID ESTIMATED BASED ON MEASUREMENTS WITH AN NaI(Tl) SPECTROMETER.

One of the authors (O.K.) stayed in the area located ~110 km south from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant during the arrival of radioactive plumes released into the environment due to the accident in March 2011 in Japan. A previous study determined his 131I thyroid content using an NaI(Tl) spectrometer. The one remaining issue was to investigate the measurement error due to inevitable differences in the configuration (e.g. the thyroid shape and volume) between the physical phantom employed for calibration of the spectrometer and the real subject. In the present study, Monte Carlo simulations for the thyroid measurements were performed using the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MNCP) code to investigate discrepancies in peak efficiencies of the spectrometer between the personalised voxel phantom created from O.K.'s magnetic resonance images and the several typical/reference phantoms that exist. As a result, the peak efficiencies for the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies (ORINS) phantom were found to be comparable to those for the reference voxel phantoms reproducing realistic human anatomy (the Adult Male phantom and the Japanese Male phantom). The peak efficiency for the personalised phantom, on the other hand, was fairly close to that of the other physical phantom (the Transfer phantom) actually used for the calibration of the spectrometer, suggesting that the 131I thyroid content determined for him in the previous study was sufficiently accurate. The discrepancies of peak efficiencies at the primal photon energy of 131I (365 keV) among the different phantoms were improved by extending the distance between the neck and the spectrometer; however, the appropriate measurement geometry in an actual situation will depend on the primary purpose of the measurements and should be determined accordingly.

Developing a checklist for collecting information from overseas hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: Expatriate workers and their families may encounter difficulties and uncertainties when visiting local hospitals. These problems include differences in the medical system, higher healthcare costs, and language problems. Occupational health staff in companies need to know about the healthcare system, including emergency transportation arrangements, to reduce anxiety in workers and families attending hospitals. This study was designed to create a checklist to allow occupational health staff to collect information from overseas hospitals efficiently and effectively. METHODS: We used documentary searches and the knowledge and experience of researchers to identify the support requirements of expatriate workers and drafted a checklist for information collection from overseas hospitals. The validity of the checklist was assessed in two stages. First, we interviewed health specialists caring for expatriate workers and their families and then tested the draft in international hospitals. We revised the draft based on our findings and again tested the new version in different overseas hospitals, enabling us to create a final version of the checklist. RESULTS: Our checklist contains 12 major categories: reception, administration, inpatient wards, available tests, outpatient clinics, emergency services, pediatrics, gynecology, dentistry, general health check-ups, vaccination services, and precautions against infection. These categories cover a total of 51 subcategories, each of which is further divided into a total of 131 smaller categories. DISCUSSIONS: Occupational health staff can use this checklist to gather information in order to provide comprehensive and effective support for expatriate workers attending hospitals. We recommend that the staff gather all possible information from hospital websites before visiting and use the visiting time to gather information available only on site. In order to gather as much information as accurately as possible, the staff are recommended to visit the facilities related to the checklist categories, that is, Japanese language reception, outpatient services, inpatient wards, emergency services, pediatrics, gynecology, general health check-up centers, and cardiac catheterization labs, and obtain information directly from doctors, nurses, and specialists working at the hospitals.

[Development of a Crisis Management Manual for Occupational Health Experts].

When crises such as natural disasters or industrial accidents occur in workplaces, not only the workers who are injured, but also those who engage in emergency or recovery work may be exposed to various health hazards. We developed a manual to enable occupational health (OH) experts to prevent health hazards. The manual includes detailed explanations of the characteristics and necessary actions for each need in the list of "OH Needs During Crisis Management" developed after an analysis of eight cases in our previous research. We changed the endings of explanatory sentences so that users could learn how often each need occurred in these eight cases. We evaluated the validity of the manual using two processes: 1) Providing the manual to OH physicians during an industrial accident; 2) Asking crisis management experts to review the manual. We made improvements based on their feedback and completed the manual. The manual includes explanations about 99 OH needs, and users can learn how and what to do for each need during various crisis cases. Because additional OH needs may occur in other crises, it is necessary to collect information about new cases and to improve the comprehensiveness of the manual continuously. It is critical that this crisis management manual be available when a crisis occurs. We need to inform potential users of the manual through various media, as well as by posting it on our website.

What Occupational Health Needs Arise in Workplaces Following Disasters? A Joint Analysis of Eight Cases of Disaster in Japan.

OBJECTIVE: To identify occupational health needs arising after disasters. METHODS: Using semistructured interviews with expert informants, we jointly analyzed the needs arising in eight disaster cases that threatened the lives or health of workers in Japan. RESULTS: Various types of health issues occurred in a wide range of employees. In total, we identified 100 needs in six phases after disasters and classified them across nine categories of worker characteristics. The proportion of health needs on the list that were applicable in each case varied from 13% to 49%. More needs arose when the companies were responsible for the disaster and when employee lives were lost. We also assessed the list as fairly comprehensive. CONCLUSIONS: The list developed in this study is expected to be effective for anticipating occupational health needs after disasters.