Derek Richard Smith

Skin Disease among Staff in a Japanese Nursing Home

Skin disease is one of the most important occupational disorders for workers of industrialised nations. Among them, health care staff are a particularly vulnerable subgroup due to their continuous handwashing and exposure to skin irritants. Smith et al. previously reported a high prevalence of skin disease among nursing home staff in Australia and Taiwan . However, dermatological investigations of their Japanese counterparts are rare. As such, we decided to conduct an epidemiological study of skin disease among typical palliative care staff in central Japan.

Ergonomic and demographic issues reported by palliative care workers in southern Taiwan

Aim: To investigate ergonomic and demographic issues reported by palliative care workers in southern Taiwan. Method: A structured questionnaire was completed by staff members from 11 nursing homes within southern Taiwan. Questions focused on age, sex, height, weight, shift-work details, duration of current employment, nature of current employment, the presence of injury and pain during the past 12 months, the phase lag before the onset of injury, and sick leave details. Results: A total of 125 health-care workers were recruited. Most were female (89.3 percent) and employed full-time (64.8 percent) as patient care assistants (55.2 percent). Most workers were regularly involved in patient-handling tasks (61.6 percent). Almost half (36.8 percent) had suffered a musculoskeletal disorder within the previous year. Lower back injury was reported by 12.0 percent of all employees. Changing patients’ clothes and changing their bed linen were associated statistically with musculoskeletal injury (odds ratio (OR) 2.9, 95 percent confidence interval (CI) 1.4-6.3 and OR 2.8, 95 percent CI 1.4-6.1), respectively. Moving the patients was also related to injury during our research (OR 2.5, 95 percent CI 1.2-5.4). Conclusion: This study has revealed various ergonomic and demographic issues reported by palliative care workers in southern Taiwan for the first time. The prevalence of certain injuries and symptoms are different from other reports.