Pimpan Silpasuwan

Musculoskeletal disorders among Thai women in construction-related work.

A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorder symptoms and its risk factors among women rebar workers. A simple random sampling method was used and data were collected by face-to-face interview and ergonomic assessment from February to March 2011. A total of 272 women rebar workers with at least 6 months’ job experience participated in this study. The findings revealed that 57.7% of workers reported musculoskeletal disorder symptoms with low back and shoulders as the most common body parts affected (46.0%). Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated 2 variables that are significantly associated with musculoskeletal disorders: prolonged working hours (adjusted odds ratio = 7.63; 95% confidence interval = 2.06-28.31) and awkward posture (adjusted odds ratio = 43.79; 95% confidence interval = 17.09-112.20). The high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among women rebar workers suggests that an appropriate ergonomic workstation design and ergonomic training for women rebar workers are necessary.

The Impact of Cigarette Plain Packaging on Health Warning Salience and Perceptions: Implications for Public Health Policy

The study employed a mixed methods design using focus group interviews with 6 student groups and self-administered questionnaires with 1239 students. The participants were nonsmoking, current smokers, and quit-smoking teenagers from secondary schools and colleges. Focus group revealed that although nonsmoking teenagers perceived fear appeals to warning messages, current smokers did not perceive fear appeals to health. Black and white backgrounds of the cigarette package were chosen as the best color for plain packaging. However, most participants suggested various pictorials and a bigger size of pictorial warnings for greater and more effective fear appeal. Odds ratio showed that males had 2.43 times the odds to perceive intention not to smoke. Teenagers who had never smoked and those who had quit smoking had 13.27 and 3.61 times the odds, respectively, to perceive intention not to smoke.

Occupational Safety, Health, and Well-being Among Home-based Workers in the Informal Economy of Thailand

The objective of this article is to provide a summary of the issues related to occupational safety and health and well-being among workers in the informal economy of Thailand, with a special emphasis on home-based workers. The reviewed literature includes documents and information sources developed by the International Labour Organization, the National Statistical Office of Thailand, peer-reviewed scientific publications, and master’s theses conducted in Thailand. This work is part of a needs and opportunities analysis carried out by the Center for Work, Environment, Nutrition and Development—a partnership between Mahidol University and University of Massachusetts Lowell to identify the gaps in knowledge and research to support government policy development in the area of occupational and environmental health for workers in the informal economy.

Palliative care in Thailand

In Thailand, several barriers exist that prevent people with life-limiting illnesses from accessing good-quality palliative care, namely: lack of palliative care providers; lack of training and education for the palliative care workforce; and issues with availability and distribution of opioids. Without palliative care, people suffer needlessly during the last months of their life. This paper gives an analysis of these issues and provides recommendations for clinical practice, research and health policy that may help to alleviate these issues.

Cotton Dust Exposure and Resulting Respiratory Disorders Among Home-Based Garment Workers

Cotton dust exposures and resulting respiratory disorders among Thai home-based garment workers in Bangkok were explored. Structured interviews focused on occupational health assessments of respiratory disorders; workflow process observations, lung function screening tests, and garment dust density assessments were used to gather data. Results revealed that garment workers in this study had worked in home-based tailoring an average of 14.88 years; 88.5% reported average health status, only 2.6% currently smoked cigarettes, and 8.6% had impaired lung function. The prevalence of respiratory disorders in this occupational group was 25%. Significant respiratory tract signs and symptoms were associated with lung function capacity (odds ratio [OR] = 52.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [6.49, 419.60]). Long work hours and few preventive behaviors were significantly associated with respiratory disorders (OR = 2.89 and OR = 10.183, respectively). Improving working conditions at home and minimizing fabric dust exposure among garment workers are recommended.

Catching and Correcting Unreported, Under-Reported Accidents (Near-Misses) among Healthcare Provider in Thailand

OBJECTIVES Latent errors in an incident reporting system pose threats to accident and near-miss prevention in hospitals. The aims of this study were to gain insight into the incident reporting system by exploring and investigating the refinement of unreported and under-reported (near-miss) patterns and by estimating under-reported annual hospital accidents over three months in one hospital. METHODS Sequential mixed-method research was undertaken using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. 120 health care providers were selected from 13 departments of a selected study hospital. Self-reported questionnaires, information from annual reports and focus group interviews among stakeholders were employed. Based on a quantitative mixed-model approach, estimation of lost cases from near-miss incidents was made. RESULTS In 2015, 20% of accidents had been reported to the hospital center while under-reported accidents and near-miss incidents by self-report over 3 months equaled 18% and 25.9%, respectively. Recent trends were positive, driven by changing values about incident reporting. However, confusion and fear still remain among practitioners about near-miss reporting due to old beliefs. This study confirms that incident reporting needs improvement so that there is an enhanced organizational culture of safety, raised awareness for individual reporting, and recovery of lost cases using mixed-model estimation of near-misses.

P135 Developing a global environmental & occupational health (geohealth) hub for southeast asia

To date the Mahidol-UMass Lowell Centre for Work, Environment, Nutrition and Human Development (CWEND) GEOHealth Hub has focused on the occupational health concerns of workers in health care and in the informal sector, including agriculture. In Thailand, the informal sector accounts for about 63% of the working population. CWEND collected health questionnaires from over 630 informal sector workers. A few of the key findings are: agricultural workers reported significant exposure to ergonomic risk factors and musculoskeletal symptoms. Pesticides were widely used and farmers showed significant differences in symptoms as well as the types of pesticides and protective practices used based on the type of agricultural crop. Among the stone sculptors ∼ 12% reported an abnormal lung function or chest x-ray result due to the high silica content of the stone used. Among bird cage makers, significant differences were found for MSDs and other health effects by job type. While among salt farmers 15% reported heat cramps, 21% heat rash and 49% heat exhaustion in the past month. CWEND developed an occupational health questionnaire to collect data from 1100 health care workers in Thailand. A few of the key findings are: health care workers reported significant exposure to ergonomic risk factors and musculoskeletal symptoms, 60% of the nutrition unit experienced a sharp injury and 27% of the surgical unit experienced a needle stick in the past 3 months, while workers in patient care units were more likely to report awareness of a hospital health and safety program, receive training and be provided PPE than non-patient care workers. Our current focus is on expanding the CWEND-GEOHealth Hub network to other countries and, through our training program, expanding research capacity and initiating research projects that will support data driven policy changes to improve occupational health in the ASEAN region.

Evaluating occupational health nursing units in Bangkok textile factories: exploring the world through international occupational health programs.

In this retrospective case-control study, researchers examined risk factors for four types of work-related injury (WRI) in hospital employees. Data were collected from employee health charts and computer databases (N = 2050) and analyzed using logistic regression. Study results showed that strain injuries were related to increased age, increased body mass index (BMI), and maintenance, custodial, and direct-caregiver employment types. Repetitive motion injuries were related to increased BMI and clerical and custodial employment types. Exposure/reaction injuries were related to increased age, increased BMI, and maintenance, custodial, and direct-caregiver employment types. Contact/assault injuries were related to increased age, increased BMI, and maintenance, custodial, and direct-caregiver employment types. All injury types were most often related to female gender and full-time employment status. Reformulating policies to improve screening, prevention, and education for those at risk for certain injury types may limit WRI occurrences and costs.