Jeongbae Rhie

Working Hours and Cardiovascular Disease in Korean Workers: A Case-control Study

Working Hours and Cardiovascular Disease in Korean Workers: A Case‐control Study: Inchul JEONG, et al. Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University, Republic of Korea—

Physical Activity and Blood Lead Concentration in Korea: Study Using the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2008–2013)

Physical activity normally has a positive influence on health, however it can be detrimental in the presence of air pollution. Lead, a heavy metal with established adverse health effects, is a major air pollutant. We evaluated the correlation between blood lead concentration and physical activity using data collected from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed after dividing participants according to whether they were in the top 25% in the distribution of blood lead concentration (i.e., ≥ 2.76 µg/dL), with physical activity level as an independent variable and adjusting for factors such as age, sex, drinking, smoking, body mass index, region, and occupation. The high physical activity group had greater odds of having a blood lead concentration higher than 2.76 µg/dL (odds ratio 1.29, 95% CI 1.11–1.51) compared to the low physical activity group. Furthermore, blood lead concentration is correlated with increasing physical activity.

The association between low blood lead levels and the prevalence of prehypertension among nonhypertensive adults in Korea

Low‐level lead exposure has been associated with increases in blood pressure (BP) and impairment of the cardiovascular system. Prehypertension is not categorized as a disease currently; however, individuals with untreated prehypertension are known to be at increased risk of progression to hypertension and mortality caused by cardiovascular disease. We investigated the association between blood lead levels below the threshold for the harmful effects of lead and the prevalence of prehypertension in Korean adults.

The association between subjective socioeconomic status and health inequity in victims of occupational accidents in Korea

We aimed to investigate the health inequity of victims of occupational accidents through the association between socioeconomic status and unmet healthcare need.

The relationship between spontaneous abortion and female workers in the semiconductor industry

BackgroundThis study investigated the relationship between job type and the risk for spontaneous abortion to assess the reproductive toxicity of female workers in the semiconductor industry.MethodsA questionnaire survey was administered to current female workers of two semiconductor manufacturing plants in Korea. We included female workers who became pregnant at least 6 months after the start of their employment with the company. The pregnancy outcomes of 2,242 female workers who experienced 4,037 pregnancies were investigated. Personnel records were used to assign the subjects to one of three groups: fabrication process workers, packaging process workers, and clerical workers. To adjust for within-person correlations between pregnancies, a generalized estimating equation was used. The logistic regression analysis was limited to the first pregnancy after joining the company to satisfy the assumption of independence among pregnancies. Moreover, we stratified the analysis by time period (pregnancy in the years prior to 2008 vs. after 2009) to reflect differences in occupational exposure based on semiconductor production periods.ResultsThe risk for spontaneous abortion in female semiconductor workers was not significantly higher for fabrication and packaging process workers than for clerical workers. However, when we stratified by time period, the odds ratio for spontaneous abortion was significantly higher for packaging process workers who became pregnant prior to 2008 when compared with clerical workers (odds ratio: 2.21; 95% confidence interval: 1.01–4.81).ConclusionsWhen examining the pregnancies of female semiconductor workers that occurred prior to 2008, packaging process workers showed a significantly higher risk for spontaneous abortions than did clerical workers. The two semiconductor production periods in our study (prior to 2008 vs. after 2009) had different automated processes, chemical exposure levels, and working environments. Thus, the conditions prior to 2008 may have increased the risk for spontaneous abortions in packaging process workers in the semiconductor industry.

Hospital Qualities Related to Return to Work from Occupational Injury after Controlling for Injury Severity as Well as Occupational Characteristics.

We examined associations between hospital quality in the workers’ compensation system and injured patients’ return to work after controlling for injury severity, occupational factors, and demographic factors. Return to work data of injured workers were constructed from 2 datasets: 23,392 patients injured in 2009–2011 from the Korea Workers’ Compensation & Welfare Service and return to work data from Korea Employment Information Services. After de-identifying the data, quality scores were matched for each hospital that cared for injured patients. Injury severity was measured by Abbreviated Injury Scales. Relative risk and 95% confidence interval were calculated using log binomial regression models. After adjusting for age, sex, injury severity, occupation, factory size, city, and hospital type, the relative risk (95% confidence interval) for the total score was 1.04 (1.02–1.06), 1.06 (1.04–1.09), and 1.07 (1.05–1.10) in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quartiles, respectively, compared to the 1st quartile. The RR (95% CI) in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quartiles was 1.05 (1.02–1.07), 1.05 (1.02–1.08), and 1.06 (1.04–1.09) for the process score; and 1.02 (1.01–1.04), 1.05 (1.03–1.07), and 1.06 (1.04–1.09) for the outcome score compared to the 1st quartile score, respectively. In conclusion, our study design with blinded merge methods shows that total, process, and outcome qualities are related to the return to work of injured workers after controlling for other factors.