مقالات رزومه دکتر اسما زارع

Lead (Pb) may cause cognitive impairments in both recent acute and chronic exposures. In this study, the effect of Pb exposure on the relationship between neurobehavioral characteristics and productivity was evaluated among battery manufacturing workers.

In general, 179 production workers and 179 office workers participated in this cross-sectional study. Venous blood sampling was used to measure the level of Pb in the blood. Psychomotor performance and intellectual functioning were measured using the digit symbol substitution test and the Wechsler adult intelligence scale-revised, respectively. Finally, productivity was assessed using a health and work performance questionnaire.

Exposed workers had a significantly higher level of Pb, while a lower level of intellectual functioning and psychomotor performance than non-exposed workers. The results of linear regression indicated that the increase in the blood level of Pb was accompanied by a significant decrease in the positive effects of intellectual functioning on productivity. However, exposure to Pb had no effect on the relationship between psychomotor performance and productivity.

Occupational exposure to Pb affected the relationship between psycho-diagnostic performance and productivity and could induce neurobehavioral dysfunction in the exposed workers. For the early detection of cognitive impairment, the neurobehavioral assessment is recommended to be implemented in work assessments.

Healthcare workers’ work performance is an important issue affected by the clinical work environment and equipment. The present study aims to predict healthcare workers’ work performance based on safety-ergonomic features of hands and medical gloves.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on healthcare workers at the hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran, 2021. Using convenience sampling, 720 healthcare workers were selected. The Patterson’s Work Performance Questionnaire and the Medical Gloves Assessment Tool were used to collect the required data on work performance and safety-ergonomic features of medical gloves, respectively.

The work performance score was 40% of the maximum achievable score, and the total score of medical gloves was almost half of the ideal state (50.52%). In addition, there was a significant relationship between work performance and safety-ergonomic features of medical gloves (correlation coefficient = 0.868). The overall regression model showed that safety-ergonomic features of medical gloves could predict the healthcare workers’ work performance (P = 0.001). Accordingly, tactile sensation, dexterity, fitting, reliability, and hand hygiene could predict work performance (P < 0.05), while grip strength alone could not do as such. Besides, fitting was the factor that affected work performance the most (Beta = 0.368).

In general, the results of this study showed that safety-ergonomic features of safety gloves could predict the healthcare workers’ work performance. In addition, improving safety-ergonomic aspects of personal protective equipment, including medical gloves, might help enhance the quality of healthcare workers’ performance.

The mining industry is one of the most challenging environments in terms of safety issues. This study aimed to investigate occupational hazards as well as to perform a risk assessment in Golgohar mine, Sirjan, Iran, (2021).

A descriptive study was conducted on jobs of 763 mining workers. A study checklist was used to collect the data. Job safety analysis method was used to identify hazardous job activities. The risks were assessed using the failure modes and effects analysis technique. Data were analyzed using SPSS and appropriate statistical methods were applied.  

The major risks identified were the throwing and falling of objects (13.93%), the slipping and falling of workers from heights (12.61%), vehicle accidents (11.19%), and dust inhalation (9.53%). The risks of all jobs were unacceptable (RPNs > 100), yet they were reduced to an acceptable level by applying interventions.

By the timely identifying and controlling of hazards, potential mining accidents can be prevented. Performing regular risk assessments and the periodic training of workers can help achieve this goal.

Environmental conditions affect workers health and performance. The present study aimed to investigate the simultaneous effect of ambient temperature and light intensity on human error.

This cross‑sectional study was conducted on 50 students from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Each participant performed 9 tests in 5 min at 3 different temperatures (20°C, 25°C, and 30°C) and 3 lighting conditions (50, 500, and 1000 lux). The participants were asked to select a text randomly. Participants asked to read the text in just 6 min and identify the mistakes. In each step, the number of remaining lines, number of spelling mistakes found, and task completion time were estimated.

There was no significant relationship between the temperature and the number of remaining lines, the number of spelling mistakes, and the task completion time (P > 0.05). However, the relationship between different light intensity and the number of remaining lines and number of spelling mistakes was statically significant (P < 0.05). At a lighting of 500, 1000 lux, and a temperature of 25°C, male subjects performed better. Unlike men, women’s performance was not affected that much by the light intensity and only declined slightly in the 1000 lux and at 20°C.

The results showed that light intensity could be important to create a suitable environment for reducing human error. If the temperature could not increase in an environment due to the nature of a job or economic issues, reducing human errors could achieve by increasing light intensity.

 A most widely used tool for measuring the workload is the NASA-task load index (TLX) questionnaire, in which various studies have reported numerous problems. The present study aimed to improve the NSAS-TLX mental workload questionnaire using the fuzzy linguistic variables instead of the virtual rating scale, and multicriteria decision-making Fuzzy Best-Worst method (FBWM) instead of pair-wise comparison. 

 This cross-sectional study was carried out among students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. In order to compare the traditional NASA-TLX and FBWM NASA-TLX questionnaire, participants performed a standard N-Back task with three low, medium, and high workload, subsequently, they completed the two questionnaires. Finally, results were examined using the researcher-made software and SPSS 16. 

 With regard to the reaction time to response the N-Back test, the mean of correct responses were 107.43 and 85.86 responses at levels 1 and 3, respectively. The mean score of the subscales and the final score in the two questionnaires at different levels of the N-Back test were independent as follows: the two questionnaires had a significant difference on mental demand at level 3 with a mean (standard deviation [SD]) of 18.09 (6.39) in the FBWM-NASA-TLX questionnaire and mean (SD) of 22.64 (8.15) in the NASA-TLX questionnaire ( P < 0.05). 

 In this study, the FBWM-NASA-TLX questionnaire was designed and studied with regard to the problems and limitations of the NASA-TLX questionnaire. Results of this study showed that the FBWM-NASA-TLX questionnaire can estimate more realistic scores and decisions of workload in the studied task.

 Glove fitting is an essential factor that affects health-care workers' performance. This study aimed to evaluate health-care workers' opinion about medical gloves fitting. 

 This study was conducted on 525 health-care workers in the hospitals of five cities in Iran (response rate was 95.45%). The Medical Gloves Assessment Tool was used for collecting the required data. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 22 software. 

 The results showed that the health-care workers were not satisfied with the size of medical gloves in different areas of fingertips, between fingers, and the wrist. Accordingly, more than 70% of the participants were <50% satisfied with medical gloves fitting. 

 Due to the importance of medical gloves fitting and the lack of sufficient information in this field, it is necessary to check the compatibility of hand dimensions of the Iranian health-care workers with the existing glove size systems. If necessary, a glove sizing system should be developed based on the anthropometric dimensions of health-care workers in Iran.

Periodic medical examinations of radiation workers are routinely conducted in many countries. Although low dose radiation (LDR) is not expected to cause a significant effect on blood count, the periodic examination usually includes reviewing the work history, general medical history, a physical examination and collecting a blood sample. Despite lymphocytes are the most sensitive cells to radiation, their counts do not show any significant change as long as the radiation level is less than a few hundreds of millisievert (mSv). In spite of this, in Iran, radiation workers, even those who work in diagnostic radiology departments, are regularly examined for blood count changes.

Methods

After a detailed search in PubMed, ISI, Scopus, SID and Google Scholar, only 12 out of 650 articles matched our criteria. A review of these 12 reports was conducted. The full texts were fully reviewed by the authors.

The complete blood count (CBC) test has a very low efficacy in evaluation of the adverse health effects of ionizing radiation in radiation workers. Therefore, finding alternative methods with a higher efficacy is recommended.

CBC tests cannot be introduced as valid markers of potential radiation effects in most occupational exposures. Given this consideration, in periodic tests of radiation workers, cytogenetic tests can be the gold-standard method. In particular, due to its relatively low cost and good sensitivity and specificity, the dicentric assay can be promising. Moreover, the simple and rapid evaluation of micronuclei by fast automated scoring systems can be a good alternative for current low efficacy CBC tests.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are considered an important health concern, particularly in automotive assembly industries. Evaluation of the effects of all MSDs risk factors is difficult due to its multifactorial nature. In addition, the risk factors cannot be detected accurately when they are only based on individual opinions. Thus, in this study, fuzzy logic tool was used to evaluate the combined effects of all risk factors on MSDs.  

This cross sectional study was conducted on 100 male workers in an automotive industry. Job satisfaction, job stress, job fatigue, and body posture were evaluated by a self-reported questionnaire. Body posture was evaluated using Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). Primary data analysis on extracting the input variables of MATLAB was performed by SPSS 22, with a significant level of 0.05. T test, one-way Anova, and Pearson correlation analysis were used to extract the input variables for the fuzzy logic model. The results obtained from the Nordic questionnaire was selected as the output of the fuzzy model. Fuzzy logic assessment was performed using MATLAB software version 7.0.  

There were significant differences between WMSDs factors, including job fatigue, strain, working posture, and the REBA final score, and pain in all limbs of the body (p<0.05).  A significant difference was also found between working posture with wrist score (p<0.05). The findings on defuzzification showed a strong correlation between real and modelling results.  

The results showed that many factors such as posture, fatigue, and strain affect MSDs. Based on the obtained results, all categories of risk factors, including personal, psychosocial, and occupational, should be considered to predict MSDs, which can be achieved by a modeling approach.