Factor Analysis of Low Back Pain among Women in Sea Food Processing.

Women in sea food processing units were involved in pre processing, grading, cleaning, freezing and packaging and they adopted static and awkward posture which results in low back pain. The aim of the present study is to analyze the factors that contribute to low back pain among women workers. A total of 244 women workers participated in the study. Socio economic background and frequency of musculoskeletal discomforts were studied. Descriptive statistics, chi square analysis and factor analysis were carried out to identify the factors contributing to low back pain. Women were involved in peeling (48.8%), setting (26.6%) and grading (24.6%) activity. Factor analysis indicated that work environment contributed to 33%, personal factors contributed to19%, work organization contributed to 16% and socio economic factors contributed to 11% for the low back pain. Worker education and periodical health surveillance will help to minimize the risk of low back pain among the women in industrial settings.

Assessing Barriers and Utilization of Sexual and Reproductive Health Services among Female Migrant Workers in Vietnam.

Young migrant women workers frequently experience disparities in accessing health services, including sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, especially in urban settings. This study assesses the barriers and utilization of SRH services and explores factors associated with the utilization of these services among young female migrant workers working in the industrial zone (IZ) in Vietnam. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1061 young women migrant workers working in an IZ in Hanoi, Vietnam. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with utilization of SRH services. Nearly 35% of the participants reported using SRH services at least once since working in the IZ. Additionally, around 78% of the participants reported using a contraceptive method during their last sexual encounter. The study also found that older participants (25-29 years old) were nearly two times more likely to use SRH services than younger participants (18-24 years old) (OR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.19-3.06). Married participants had nearly six times higher odds of using SRH services compared to single participants (OR = 5.98, 95% CI: 3.71-9.63), and participants with higher incomes were more likely to use SRH services (OR = 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01-1.04). The most commonly reported barriers to access SRH services were inconvenient hours of service operation (26.2%), followed by long distance from the service location (9.2%) and high service cost (5.2%). This study found a low level of SRH service utilization and identified several barriers to accessing these services among the study participants. The study findings provide important evidence insights for policymakers and program managers to develop and implement policies that help reduce barriers and enhance the provision of SRH services tailored to the needs of IZ married and unmarried women migrant workers in the IZ in rapidly developing and urbanizing countries like Vietnam and other low- and middle-income countries with similar contexts.

[Investigation on reproductive health status of women workers in different positions in oilfield enterprises].

Objective: The status and influencing factors of reproductive health (including menstrual period and gynecological diseases) of female workers in different positions of oilfield enterprises were analyzed. Methods: From January to December 2020, a total of 979 female workers in an oil field were selected as research objects by the judgment sampling method, and the "Female Reproductive Health Survey" was used as the investigation tool to investigate the demographic characteristics, menstrual status and gynecological diseases. The influential factors were analyzed by 2-test and logistic regression analysis. Results: The prevalence of abnormal menstruation was 26.1% (256/979), dysmenorrhea 53.1% (520/979), and gynecological diseases 54.34% (532/979). The prevalence of breast disease was 23.39% (229/979), uterine disease 11.03% (108/979), cervical disease 10.32% (101/979), and HPV infection 7.97% (78/979). Age, the nature of the job and whether occupational harmful factors were clear were the influencing factors of gynecological diseases (P=0.001, 0.000, 0.007). Age, job nature, working hours and work intensity were the influencing factors of abnormal menstruation (P=0.005, 0.000, 0.000, 0.010) . Conclusion: The reproductive health status of female workers in different positions of oil field enterprises is not optimistic, and the reproductive health status of female workers in professional and technical positions needs to be improved.

As mulheres lavradoras e os agrotóxicos no cotidiano da agricultura familiar / Women farmers and pesticides in daily family farming

RESUMO Considerando a invisibilidade do trabalho feminino no cenário da agricultura familiar, este trabalho teve como objetivo descrever e analisar a relação da mulher com os agrotóxicos no processo de trabalho. Esta pesquisa qualitativa foi realizada com agricultoras familiares de São Miguel Arcanjo (SP), e tem como material de análise o conteúdo das entrevistas com as 14 agricultoras, segundo adaptação dos conceitos de Bardin. Os conteúdos das falas das entrevistadas foram organizados e delineados em duas categorias analisadas no corpo deste trabalho. Foi possível inferir que a mulher desempenha atributos historicamente designados à figura masculina, como as práticas do capinar, da colheita e da manipulação de agrotóxico, embora desprovida do direito a acesso à informação e orientação necessário para o desempenho do seu labor com segurança. A prática do agronegócio adentra as propriedades familiares, pautada na produção dependente de agrotóxicos, e é relatada por elas de maneira não naturalizada, quando identificam os agrotóxicos como venenos. Por fim, potencializar as competências identificadas nessas mulheres, sobretudo o poder de resiliência, preservando suas competências e identidades perante tantos fatores estressores vivenciados no contexto da margem feminilizada da agricultura, pode contribuir para o fim da miséria econômica, intelectual e sanitária das mulheres lavradoras.

ABSTRACT Considering the invisibility of female labor in the family farming scenario, this work aims to describe and analyze the relationship of women with pesticides in the work process. This qualitative research was carried out with family farmers in São Miguel Arcanjo (SP) and has as analysis material the content of the interviews with the 14 women farmers, according to the adaptation of Bardin's concepts. The contents of the interviewees' speeches were organized and outlined in two categories analyzed in the body of this work. It was possible to infer that women perform attributes historically assigned to the male figure, such as the practices of weeding, harvesting, and handling pesticides, although they lack the right to access the information and guidance necessary to safely perform their work. The practice of agribusiness enters family properties, based on pesticide-dependent production, and is reported by them in an unnatural way, when they identify pesticides as poisons. Finally, enhancing the skills identified in these women, especially the power of resilience, preserving their skills and identities in the face of so many stressors experienced in the context of the feminized margin of agriculture, may contribute to the end of economic, intellectual, and sanitary misery of women farmers.

Gender and COVID-19: Workers in global value chains.

This article presents a framework to analyse the gendered impact of COVID-19 on workers in global value chains (GVCs) in the business process outsourcing, garment and electronics industries. Distinguishing between the health and lockdown effects of the pandemic, and between its supply- and demand-related impacts, the authors' gendered analysis focuses on multidimensional aspects of well-being, understands the economy as encompassing production and social reproduction spheres, and examines the social norms and structures of power that produce gender inequalities. Their findings suggest that the pandemic exposes and amplifies the existing vulnerabilities of women workers in GVCs.

Where is my home?: Gendered precarity and the experience of COVID-19 among women migrant workers from Delhi and National Capital Region, India.

With growing interest in the lives of individuals and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is consensus among scholars, academicians, and policy makers that the pandemic has had unequal impacts on different sections of the society. The dominant idea that "we are in this together" needs to be critically unpacked to understand the differential impact of the same pandemic on people with varied vulnerabilities. The concept of "intersectional vulnerability" has been key to understanding the unequal distribution of the pandemic risk. Using a gendered intersectional lens, this paper aims to understand the lived experiences of migrant women workers during the pandemic and their narratives of gendered inequality. Through a narrative study in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), India, from May to October 2020, this study brings out stories of precarity faced by five migrant women while battling the social, psychological, and economic effects of the pandemic. Loss of livelihood, home, savings, and prospects of a better future shape the narratives of these women. The pandemic exacerbated the already precarious positions of these women by creating a situation where-(a) patriarchal structures were further reinforced, and (b) losing gender solidarity and companionship through lockdown and social distancing.

Women Garment Workers Face Huge Inequities in Global Supply Chain Factories Made Worse by COVID-19.

Women make up the large majority of workers in global supply chains, especially factories in the apparel supply chain. These workers face significant inequalities in wages, workplace hazards, and a special burden of gender-based violence and harassment. These "normal" conditions have been compounded by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated long-standing structural inequities. Decades of well-financed "corporate social responsibility" programs have failed because they do not address the underlying causes of illegal and abusive working conditions. New initiatives in the past half-decade offer promise in putting the needs and rights of workers front and center. Occupational health and safety professionals can assist in the global effort to improve working and social conditions, and respect for the rights and dignity of women workers, through advocacy and action on the job, in their professional associations, and in society at large.

Trabalhadoras da saúde face à pandemia: por uma análise sociológica do trabalho de cuidado / Female healthcare workers and the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil: a sociological analysis of healthcare work

Resumo Este texto tem como finalidade discutir o cuidado de trabalhadoras da área da saúde em face da Covid-19, sob a análise sociológica de autoras que o vêm discutindo enquanto um trabalho que é desempenhado, na sua maioria, pelas mulheres das classes populares, é desvalorizado e sofre baixa remuneração. É uma atividade que envolve as construções sociais das emoções e tem utilizado o corpo como um instrumento de trabalho no cuidado com o outro. Além disso, a precarização do trabalho em saúde na sociedade brasileira acirrada nas últimas décadas, como o aumento de contratos temporários, perdas de direitos trabalhistas, a sobrecarga das atividades, condições de trabalho precárias, dentre outros, soma-se com o aumento dos atendimentos médico-hospitalares diante da pandemia da Covid-19. Neste contexto, as trabalhadoras em saúde vivenciam as ausências de equipamentos de proteção individual, medo de contaminação pelo vírus, preocupações com filhos e familiares, vivências diante da morte e do adoecimento de si e de colegas de profissão. Este texto aponta para a necessidade de atenção governamental, bem como para a gestão do trabalho em saúde e dos órgãos de classe profissional, analisando as condições de trabalho que as trabalhadoras em saúde estão vivendo no enfrentamento da pandemia.

Abstract The article aims to discuss the care provided by female healthcare workers in Brazil during the Covid-19 pandemic, based on a sociological analysis by authors who discuss such care as devalued and poorly paid work performed to a large extent by low-income women. The work involves social constructions of emotions and has used the body as a work instrument in care for others. In addition, the increasingly precarious nature of health work in Brazilian society, aggravated in recent decades, with an increase in temporary contracts, loss of labor rights, overload of tasks, and adverse work conditions, among others, adds to the increase in medical and hospital care in the Covid-19 pandemic. In this context, female healthcare workers experience lack of personal protective equipment, fear of coronavirus infection, concerns with their children and other family members, and illness and death of coworkers and themselves. The article highlights the need for government attention and management of healthcare work and professional societies, analyzing the work conditions female healthcare workers are experiencing in confronting the pandemic.

Workplace Sexual Harassment and Vulnerabilities among Low-Wage Hispanic Women.

Workplace sexual harassment is particularly widespread in industries with many low-wage jobs where Hispanic women are likely to work. This qualitative study examines the experiences of Hispanic women in low-income jobs to identify workplace sexual harassment situations, support seeking actions, barriers to report, and forms of retaliation. A qualitative research design with one-on-one structured interviews provided an in-depth understanding of the experiences of Hispanic women in low-wage jobs regarding workplace sexual harassment situations and potential contributing factors. Second, a conceptual framework is proposed to integrate the reported organizational factors and social vulnerabilities that interact, eroding the individual's ability to cope effectively with workplace sexual harassment. These include organizational resources for preventing and reporting, community and family resources for support, and health effects attributed to sexual harassment. Workplace sexual harassment was described by participants as escalating over time from dating invitations, sex-related comments, unwanted physical contact to explicit sexual propositions. Temporary workers reported being very often subject to explicit quid pro quo propositions. While these patterns might not differ from those reported by other groups, work organization factors overlap with individual and social characteristics of Hispanic women in low-income jobs revealing a complicated picture that requires a systems approach to achieve meaningful change for this vulnerable population.

Effects of a work-related stress model based mental health promotion program on job stress, stress reactions and coping profiles of women workers: a control groups study.

BACKGROUND: Work-related stress and its detrimental effects on human health have rapidly increased during the past several years. It causes many different stress reactions, related diseases and unhealthy behavior among workers, but especially women workers. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the effects of the work-related stress model based Workplace Mental Health Promotion Programme on the job stress, social support, reactions, salivary immunoglobulin A and Cortisol levels, work absenteeism, job performance and coping profiles of women workers. METHODS: This study had a "pre-test post-test non-equivalent control groups" design and included 70 women workers (35 in each study group) selected by randomized sampling from two factories. The programme was delivered as an intervention including 12 weeks of follow-up. Reminder messages, videos, and WhatsApp texts were used at the follow-up stage. The research measurements were; the assessment form, the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire, the Brief Coping Profile Scale, salivary ELISA kits, and a self-reported check-list. RESULTS: There were no differences in sociodemographic characteristics, general health or working conditions between the Intervention and control groups(p > .05). Three months after the intervention, there was a significant decrease in job stress(p ≤ .001), physical and mental reactions' scores(p ≤ .001) and work absenteeism(p < .05), and there was an increase in job performance(p < .05), social support(p ≤ .001) among the intervention group. The programme showed positive effects on coping profiles(p < .05). After the intervention salivary-cortisol and IgA levels showed a statistically significant decrease(p < .05). A majority of effect sizes were very large (ηp2 > .14). CONCLUSIONS: Work-ProMentH was found to be effective and useful in job stress management and promotion of effective coping profiles. It enables its users to holistically assess worker stress and to plan and examine intervention programmes via a systematic approach. There is a need for more empirical studies that may support the data of the present study, but it is thought that the intervention can be maintained for the long-term. We recommend that occupational health professionals at workplaces should consider using this model-based cost-effective intervention, which seems easy and practical to apply in real-life situations. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN registration ID: ISRCTN14333710 (2020/10/03, retrospective registration).

Pandemic and Future of Work: Rehabilitating Informal Workers Livelihoods Post Pandemic.

At SEWA, we strongly believe that "Work is a healer". In the current pandemic situation, when the majority of informal workers livelihoods have come to a screeching halt, it is important to focus on rehabilitating the livelihoods of workers, building their resilience, promoting the local decentralized economies, organizing workers into their own economic enterprises, repurposing the supply chains of worker-owned microenterprises and hand-holding workers to adopt and adapt new technologies. At SEWA, we call this Building Economy of Nurturance.

"Who will stand up for us?" the social determinants of health of women tea plantation workers in India.

INTRODUCTION: The tea estate sector of India is one of the oldest and largest formal private employers. Workers are dependent on plantation estates for a range of basic services under the 1951 Plantation Labour Act and have been subject to human rights violations. Ad hoc reports related to poor health outcomes exist, yet their determinants have not been systematically studied. This study in Assam, situated in Northeast India, sought to understand the Social Determinants of Health (SDH) of women plantation workers with an aim to offer directions for policy action. METHODS: As part of a larger qualitative study, 16 FGDs were carried out with women workers in three plantations of Jorhat district covering permanent and non-permanent workers. Informed consent procedures were carried out with all participants individually. Data were analyzed thematically using Ritchie and Spencer's framework based on an adapted conceptual framework drawing from existing global conceptual models and frameworks related to the SDH. RESULTS: Determinants at structural, intermediary and individual levels were associated with health. Poverty and poor labour conditions, compounded by the low social position of women in their communities, precluded their ability to improve their economic situation. The poor quality of housing and sanitation, inadequate food and rations, all hampered daily living. Health services were found wanting and social networks were strained even as women were a critical support to each other. These factors impinged on use of health services, diet and nutrition as well as psychosocial stress at the individual level. CONCLUSION: Years of subjugation of workers have led to their deep distrust in the system of which they are part. Acting on SDH will take time, deeper understanding of their relative and/or synergistic contribution, and require the building of stakeholdership. Notwithstanding this, to have heard from women workers themselves has been an important step in visibilizing and building accountability for action on the health and SDH of women in plantation estates.

Occupational Health of Agricultural Women Workers in India.

BACKGROUND: Women in Agriculture form a significant portion of the productive work force in Indian economy. Occupational Health is a vital component of nation's infrastructure and it focuses on the physical, mental and social well being of workers. In India, Occupational Heath among agricultural women is a public health issue which needs immediate attention. OBJECTIVES: To study the association between health and agriculture, the occupational hazards and health problems faced by agricultural women workers and the related policy provisions in India. METHODS: An extensive literature review and data search were done using online search engines, peer reviewed articles and the reports of various departments of Government of India. RESULTS: The result reveals that Occupational health hazards have a direct impact on the physical and mental health of women workers. CONCLUSION: Implementation of social security and welfare measures by the Government for the agricultural women could enhance the health of women workers.

Devir Margarida: narrativas de si em experienciafetos / Becoming Margarida: narratives of self in experienceaffections / Devenir Margarida: narrativas de si en experienciafectos

Neste ensaio rizomático, evocamos cenas, imagens e afetos acionados com a participação das mulheres trabalhadoras rurais da V Marcha das Margaridas. A experiência e a narração articulam ferramentas potentes na transmissão de histórias em sua singularidade, diferença e multiplicidade. A escrita demarca um registro possível, uma abertura para estar junto na produção de uma escuta implicada e sensível dos efeitos da experiência de um "devir Margarida". O caminho percorrido irrompe entre fragmentos, recortes descontínuos, impregnado por experienciafetos em sua dimensão ética, estética e política. Com alegria e colorido, as mulheres vêm à público performatizar um ato-manifesto na luta contra os retrocessos e pela garantia de direitos. Em marcha, as margaridas protagonizam ações políticas em prol do bem viver de suas comunidades e questionam os estereótipos tradicionais de gênero.(AU)

In this rhizomatic essay, we evoke scenes, images and affections triggered by our participation, with rural women workers, in the 5 th Marcha das Margaridas . Experience and narrative are powerful tools in the transmission of stories, in their uniqueness, difference and multiplicity. Writing demarcates a possible record, an aperture to be together in the production of an implicated and sensitive hearing of the effects produced by the experience of "becoming Margarida ". The traveled path bursts among fragments, discontinuous cuts, marked by experienceaffections in their ethical, aesthetical and political dimensions. With joy and multiple colors, women perform, in public, an act-manifesto in the fight against retrocessions and for the guarantee of rights. In their march, the Margaridas play a leading role in political actions for their communities' welfare and question traditional gender stereotypes..(AU)

En este ensayo rizomático evocamos escenas, imágenes y afectos accionados con la participación junto a mujeres trabajadoras rurales de la V Marcha das Margaridas . La experiencia y la narración constituyen herramientas potentes en la transmisión de historias en su singularidad, diferencia y multiplicidad. La escritura demarca un registro posible, una apertura para estar juntos en la producción de una escucha implicada y sensible de los efectos de la experiencia de un "devenir Margarida ". El camino recorrido irrumpe entre fragmentos, recortes discontinuos, impregnado por experienciafectos en su dimensión ética, estética y política. Con alegría y colorido, las mujeres vienen a público a performatizar un acto-manifiesto en la lucha contra retrocesos y por la garantía de derechos. En marcha, las margaridas protagonizan acciones políticas para el bien vivir de sus comunidades y cuestionan los estereotipos tradicionales de género..(AU)

Peer Educators as Change Leaders - Effectiveness of Peer Education Process in Creating Awareness on Reproductive Health among Women Workers in Textile Industry.

CONTEXT: India is one of the leading manufacturers of garments with roughly 80% of the workforce dominated by female migrant workers. Lack of education and access to resources in these women contribute to unsafe sexual behaviors, sometimes leading to unwanted pregnancies or sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Awareness raising, and peer education in particular, is extremely effective in addressing reproductive health issues. AIMS: This study aims to study the effectiveness of peer health education in improving the awareness on reproductive health among women workers in textile industries. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A health educational interventional study for women in garment and spinning mills using peer education process carried out over a period of 18 months. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The process includes orientation to factory management, health needs' assessment, identifying health topics, peer educators' selection, peer educator trainings followed by outreach sessions, and impact measurement. The impact of peer education on reproductive health has been assessed among 597 participants from 9 factories. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were entered in SPSS version 24 and analyzed. Results were expressed as percentages. Chi square test was used where appropriate to find association between categorical variables. RESULTS: The mean age of the workers in both the groups is 25.4 (±9.6) years and 25.1 (±8.3) years. In both the groups, most of the workers were single and more than half of them reside within the factory premises. Significant change in menstrual hygiene practices, knowledge in family planning methods, STIs, and cervical cancer has been observed following peer health education. CONCLUSIONS: A well-designed health educational interventional program using peer educators could be a successful approach to create awareness on sensitive topics.

Assessment of genotoxicity and cholinesterase activity among women workers occupationally exposed to pesticides in tea garden.

To assess the effects of exposure to pesticides in tea garden women workers, the present study evaluated the activities of erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and plasma butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) as biomarkers of pesticide exposure and DNA damage by comet assay as a biomarker of genotoxicity in peripheral blood lymphocytes. We examined 143 women subjects including 77 women workers exposed to pesticide in tea garden (exposed) and 66 women subject with no history of occupational exposure to pesticides (non-exposed). The two groups had similar mean ages, BMI and personal habits. The results revealed that exposed group had lower activity of AChE (2.86 ± 0.75 vs. 3.93 ± 0.87 U/ml) BChE (2.02 ± 0.74 vs. 2.60 ± 0.74 U/ml, p < 0.001) than those of non-exposed group. The mean comet parameters such as tail length (TL), % DNA in tail, tail moment (TM) and olive tail moment (OTM) used to measure DNA damage were significantly elevated in exposed workers compared to non-exposed (p < 0.001). There was no variation observed in Cholinesterase (ChEs) activity and Comet assay parameter based on age, personal habits, years of exposure and use of personal protective equipments (PPEs) except BChE activity. The multiple regression analysis showed no association of confounding factors on end points measured except slight negative association of BMI with tail length. Therefore this study suggests that the workers in tea garden might have exposed to pesticide through their occupation on a regular interval. Although this study could able to associate it with their occupational exposure, the role of other DNA damaging factors cannot be ruled out. Our study finding indicate the necessity of periodic monitoring of these biomarkers along with imparting education and training to minimise the risk.

Depressive Symptom and Related Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study of Korean Female Workers Working at Traditional Markets.

BACKGROUND: Depression is one of the psychiatric diseases with a high prevalence rate, globally, and reportedly more prevalent among women than among men. Especially, women workers working at traditional markets are in depressive conditions without occupational health services. The purpose of this study is to investigate factors having a significant effect on the depressive symptoms of women workers at traditional markets in South Korea. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was used and subjects for the present study were 500 female workers in three selected representative traditional marketplaces in South Korea. RESULTS: The results of hierarchical regression analysis indicated that increased BMI (ß = 0.297, p = 0.017), poor nutritional status (ß = 0.596, p < 0.001), street vendor status (ß = 2.589, p = 0.001), job stress (ß = 0.491, p < 0.001), lower back pain (ß = 0.377, p = 0.011), lower self-efficacy (ß = -0.368, p = 0.002) and diminished family function (ß = -0.633, p = 0.001) affected workers' depressive symptoms. The explanatory power of these variables was 38.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these results, future research should focus on incorporating theses significant factors into effective interventions designed to decrease depressive symptoms in this population. Moreover, this study will increase interest in occupational health nursing, particularly in relation to vulnerable social groups, and expand the scope of practice in the field.

The gendered workplaces of women garment workers in Istanbul.

Drawing on 20 semi-structured interviews with women garment workers in a low-income neighbourhood of Istanbul, and observations in the ateliers where they worked, this article examines their work experiences in the gendered and sexualised work atmosphere of garment workshops. There are three interrelated levels upon which the gender-related issues emerge in women garment workers' stories. The first set of discourses portrays young female garment workers in highly sexualised terms, and the second concerns the use of kinship vocabulary and avoidance of impersonal work relationships. That is, women workers' experiences in capitalist production sites were trivialised and regulated through the sexualisation of their bodies and the deployment of kinship idioms while addressing their role at the workplace. The third level analyses women's submissive, subversive or contradictory responses to these gendered disciplinary techniques and representations, i.e. the construction of their subjectivities. These three levels point to two things: first, cultural presumptions about marriage, women's sexuality and reproductive cycles are materialised at the workplace. Second, gendered instantiations of these presumptions in a specific work environment are both informed by their familial roles (such as daughter, wife, mother, widowed) and inform their future reproductive preferences (whether they marry, have a child, get a divorce, etc.). This article shows how the ways in which women's difference is construed and acted upon in the garment industry are inseparable from women's reproductive decisions.

Work Hours of Immigrant Versus U.S.-Born Female Workers.

This study was a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data extracted from the 2011-2012 California Health Interview Survey. Data from 8,931 full-time (i.e., 21 hours or more per week) women workers aged 18 to 85 years were analyzed to examine the nature and prevalence of immigrant female workers' work hours, overtime, and related factors in the United States compared to U.S.-born female workers. Results showed that foreign-born female workers did not work longer hours than U.S.-born female workers. Foreign-born female workers who reported poor health worked longer hours than did their U.S.-born counterparts. Foreign-born female workers who were self-employed or worked in family businesses tended to work longer hours than did those women who worked for private companies or nonprofit organizations.

Potential objective biomarkers for fatigue among working women.

OBJECTIVE: The prediction of health impairment due to work overload is subjectively assessed based on recognized symptoms; however, objective evaluation is primarily ideal in the field of occupational health. Recently, some biomarkers of autonomic function and/or oxidative stress were reported to be associated with fatigue. This study aimed to preliminarily investigate whether these biomarkers could be objective indicators for fatigue and stress among working women. METHOD: Participants included 118 full-time female workers (mean age 37.8 years), including 55 shift workers. Self-administered questionnaires, such as visual analog scale (VAS) for general health, a lifestyle questionnaire, SF-8 for health-related quality of life, and K6 for mental health screening, were used. In addition, biomarkers such as acceleration plethysmogram (APG), reactive oxygen metabolites-derived compounds (d-ROMs), and biological antioxidant potential (BAP) were measured. RESULTS: A significant association was observed between BAP and VAS (r=0.482, p<0.01) among shift workers. However, other biomarkers such as APG and d-ROMs were not significantly associated with symptoms. d-ROMs were significantly correlated with age and body mass index. There was a significant negative correlation between BAP and smoking. Results of the APG (low-frequency (LF) /high-frequency (HF) ratio) were significantly correlated with BAP, but not with d-ROMs. The LF/HF ratio and BAP for shift workers were significantly higher than those for day-time workers. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that APG and BAP are potential objective biomarkers for fatigue among working women, although further follow-up studies are needed to clarify the scope of usefulness of the biomarkers for fatigue.