Nancy Daraiseh

Workplace bullying: a systematic review of risk factors and outcomes

Background: Studies investigating workplace bullying started in the early 1990s in Scandinavian countries. Research has been conducted regarding bullying definitions, behaviours, prevalence rates, risk factors and outcomes such as sickness absences, psychological effects, chronic and cardiovascular diseases and lower job satisfaction. To date, no systematic review has been conducted regarding this subject. Objectives: To investigate the association between (1) workplace factors and bullying and (2) workplace bullying and various outcomes. Methods: A critical appraisal was conducted twice after a thorough review of published studies. A definition and a model of workplace bullying are provided. Results: Results showed associations between organizational problems and workplace bullying and between a victims personality and workplace bullying. In some cases, strong associations between workplace bullying and a victims well-being and performance were found. Conclusions: Results cannot be generalized since there are several confounders and covariates that needed to be considered. There is also a lack of research investigating the characteristics of bullies.

Workplace stress factors and ‘burnout’ among information technology professionals: a systematic review

Background: Burnout is a widely acknowledged stress outcome. As the prevalence of burnout has been observed in several other professions, it is very plausible that it could be prevalent in the Information Technology (IT) field. Objective: To show a relationship between working environment of an IT professional and burnout. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic review of studies dealing with burnout among IT professionals. Methods: Prior publications addressing burnout and IT professionals were retrieved by an online search of multiple databases. Abstracts were examined to determine which articles met specific criteria for evaluation. Two reviewers critically appraised three articles and determined three key exposure variables; role ambiguity, role conflict and job tasks. Results: There is a relationship between the three variables and burnout among IT professionals. However, the three articles collectively were evaluated as marginal (0.67 out of 2.0). Conclusions: Managers of IT employees must be aware of these exposure variables and take action to protect the individuals. These efforts will enhance individual well-being and save the company money over the long-term.

Effectiveness of behaviour based safety interventions to reduce accidents and injuries in workplaces: critical appraisal and meta-analysis

Background: Behaviour-based safety (BBS) is one of the promising methods implemented in industry to reduce the incidence of accidents and injuries. Researchers have reported diverse BBS applications in various industries. The diversity of applications and results reveals a need for systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the overall effectiveness of BBS to improve workers’ safety and health. Objective: To quantitatively assess the effectiveness of behaviour-based safety (BBS) interventions in reducing accidents and injury occurrence in occupational settings. Methods: A critical appraisal was conducted to assess the methodological quality of study. A meta-analysis was also performed to identify the direction and size of the effect. Results: Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria with a poor to marginal methodological quality. Eight studies achieved a statistically significant reduction in accidents/injuries after conducting a BBS intervention. The overall metaSAR (0.60, 95% CI 0.72–0.97) displayed a statistical significance in reducing accidents/injuries. Conclusions: A statistically significant reduction in injuries/accidents was observed after conducting a BBS intervention in a workplace. However, this statistical significance should be interpreted with caution, due to the poor to marginal methodological quality of studies included in the meta-analysis. Reliable results require interventions with high methodological quality based on the specific needs of the workplace.

Questionnaires vs observational and direct measurements: a systematic review

Background: Physical work requirements can be estimated by several different methods, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. To reduce the occurrence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders, a quantitative assessment of work-related, physical risk factors is needed. Objective: To examine the validity of self-administered questionnaires (SAQ) in assessing work-related physical demands when compared to an experts evaluation using observational and/or direct measurement. Methods: An online search of relevant databases was conducted and identified articles were critically appraised using a quality scoring checklist. Evidence from the studies was compared and summarized. Results: A total of 12 studies evaluating work-related force, duration and frequency were identified. A critical appraisal checklist was used to assess methodological quality. The majority of the studies lacked the necessary elements of measurement validity and reliability as demonstrated by their low quality scores. Overall, there was a low-to-moderate agreement between SAQ and observational/direct measurement. Conclusion: The validity of SAQ to assess work-related physical variables is questionable. When the rules of psychophysics are combined with a calibration method the validity is greatly improved. In addition, several personal factors need to be considered during data collection, in particular the presence of previous musculoskeletal disorders.

Codeine-related adverse drug reactions in children following tonsillectomy: a prospective study.

To prospectively determine factors associated with codeines adverse drug reactions (ADRs) at home in a large homogenous population of children undergoing outpatient tonsillectomy.

Estimating the uninsured costs of work-related accidents, part I: a systematic review

Background: Work-related accidents and their associated costs have been a serious concern for management, especially as statistics show that there is no clear relationship between the frequency of injuries and the costs of accidents. Methods: A systematic appraisal of available literature was conducted to identify the best approaches to the classification and estimation of insured and uninsured components of work-related accident costs. The appraisal seeks to identify meaningful components and predictors of the cost of accidents. Results: The selected publications introduced different methods to aggregate the cost of accidents but failed to provide an explanation of the relationship between the nature of accidents and their associated cost. Only three studies explored both insured and uninsured components and only four utilized incidence-based models. Conclusions: There is a need to move beyond linear ratios as predictors of the uninsured cost of accidents. An incidence-based method would best represent the nature of accidents.

Psychosocial factors and musculoskeletal disorders in the construction industry: a systematic review

Background: Recent reports indicate that construction workers are at a significant risk of musculoskeletal disorders. While there are several reviews investigating the association between psychosocial factors and musculoskeletal disorders, there are none focusing on those specific to the construction industry. Objective: To review and critically appraise the current epidemiological literature linking psychosocial work factors to musculoskeletal disorders among construction workers. Methods: An online search of relevant databases was conducted. The quality of identified articles was assessed using a quality scoring checklist. The evidence from selected studies was summarized and the results of the critical appraisal were discussed. Results: Eight cross-sectional and two cohort studies were included in this review. High job stress was the most commonly investigated factor followed by job satisfaction, job control and high quantitative job demands. All studies reported an association between musculoskeletal disorders and at least one psychosocial factor. Many of the associations reported were significant even after adjusting for demographics and physical demands of the job. Conclusion: Despite some methodological concerns discussed in this review, there is evidence that psychosocial factors are associated with musculoskeletal disorders. This information is essential to the construction industry since most intervention programmes focus only on the physical demands of the job.

Risk factors associated with adverse health and safety outcomes in the US Hispanic workforce

Background: Historically, jobs that are high in physical labour such as construction, farming, fishing, mining and manufacturing tend to have the highest accident and fatality rates. Many working in these sectors, particularly of Hispanic origin, have been experiencing higher numbers of accidents than workers from other backgrounds. Objective: To investigate adverse safety and health outcomes among Hispanic workers in the US associated with risk factors by means of a systematic review of analytical studies. Methods: A keyword search was used within several academic databases to search for applicable articles. A critical appraisal was carried out to evaluate the selected studies according to epidemiological principles. Results: The critical appraisal of six relevant studies revealed that lack of education and training, language barriers, culture barriers and job type are risk factors associated with adverse safety and health outcomes in Hispanic workers in the US. However, results may be limited due to a need for specific information regarding subject loss and issues regarding generalization to eligible populations. Conclusions: There is still a need for studies investigating the relationship between specific risk factors and their influence on immigrant workers. Research should take into account other variables such as immigration status and develop proper interventions to assess the effectiveness of prevention methods such as proper bilingual safety training.

Pediatric inpatient falls and injuries: A descriptive analysis of risk factors

PURPOSE This study identified patient characteristics and environmental factors related to falls and injuries at one pediatric hospital. DESIGN AND METHODS This descriptive study was part of a multisite study based on inpatient pediatric falls reported over a 6-month period. RESULTS Fall prevalence was .84/1,000 patient days. Thirty-one of the 53 falls (58.5%) resulted in injury; 17% required treatment. Of the injured children, 83% were developmentally appropriate, 58% were in the hospital room, and five fell from a bed. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS Comprehensive fall prevention programs are required to promote patient safety.

Estimating uninsured costs of work-related accidents, part II: an incidence-based model

Background: This is the second of two papers focused on insured costs of workplace accidents. In part I, a systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify previous models. Although uninsured costs have been identified, there is no reliable method for employers to estimate their cost. Objective: This paper proposes a quantitative model to represent the behaviour of the cost of accidents. It provides a cost range into which the accident is most likely to fall, based on information known at the time of the accident. Methods: A logarithmic distribution is proposed to represent the insured cost as a function of the severity of the accident and the occupation of the workforce exposed. Point estimates for administrative costs and production losses are obtained based on a generic case in order to quantify the equation in terms of monetary value. Results: For a given workforce composition, it is possible to obtain uninsured cost intervals that range from 0–3.5 times the insured costs. The evidence supports a logarithmic relationship between uninsured and insured costs, contrary to the principle of linear ratios. Conclusion: The proposed model requires only basic information about the accident: the severity of the injury and the composition of the workforce exposed. The value added from the model is not only an interval range for the insured costs but also the financial contribution of safety programmes to the workplace that is often ignored by employers.