فهرست مطالب alireza choobineh

Musculoskeletal disorders in the upper extremities are common among computer users. This study aimed to assess the effect of mouse pad angle on the forearm muscles activity and upper limb discomfort. This is an experimental research design. The mouse pad was set at 0, 10, 20, and 30 degrees of forearm supination. Ten subjects performed an identical text editing task with mouse in each pad position. Electrical activity of the selected forearm muscles was recorded with surface electrodes. 10-point rating scales were used for assessing perceived discomfort. Extensor Carpi Radialis had the lowest mean of Electromyography (EMG) values in the 0° slanted pad (5.94), and the highest values were associated with Pronator Quadratus in 0-degree slanted pad (22.29). The highest and the lowest mean (SD) of the users’ upper limb discomfort were 3.70 (1.63) and 1.90 (1.28) in 30° and 10° slanted pads, respectively. Using slanted mouse pads could be a helpful and practical tool for office workers to keep more neutral wrist/hand positions.

The musculoskeletal complaints of the shoulder are prevalent in people who work with computers for a long time.

This study aimed to investigate the glenohumeral joint contact forces and kinematics in different keyboards and monitor setups using OpenSim.

Twelve randomly selected healthy males participated in an experimental study. A 3×3 factorial design was used in which three angles were considered for the monitor and three horizontal distances for the keyboard while performing standard tasks. The workstation was adjusted based on ANSI/HFES-100-2007 standard to maintain a comfortable ergonomic posture for controlling confounding variables. Qualisys motion capture system and OpenSim were used.

The maximum mean range of motion (ROM) of both shoulders’ flexion and adduction was observed when the keyboard was 15 cm from the edge of the desk, and the monitor angle was 30°. The maximum mean ROM of both shoulders’ internal rotation was recorded for the keyboard at the edge of the desk. Peak forces for most right shoulder complex muscles were obtained in two setups. 3D shoulder joint moments were significantly different among nine setups (P-value<0.05). The peak anteroposterior and mediolateral joint contact forces were recorded for the keyboard at 15 cm and the monitor at zero angles (0.751 and 0.780 N/BW, respectively). The peak vertical joint contact force was observed for the keyboard at 15 cm and the monitor at 15° (0.310 N/BW). 

The glenohumeral joint contact forces are minimum for the keyboard at 8 cm and the monitor at zero angles.

Physical fitness and optimum functional movement are essential for efficient performance of job tasks without fatigue and injury. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Functional Movement Screening (FMS) test score and prevalence of Musculoskeletal symptoms (MSSs) in emergency nurses and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) staff. The present study also sought to determine optimum cut-off point of FMS test score in health personnel. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 134 male and female emergency nurses and EMS technicians. After watching a video tutorial and undergoing practical training of how to do the FMS test, the participants carried out the test while wearing comfortable clothes. In addition to the demographic data questionnaire, Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire was also completed for each participant. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software, version 18 at the significance level of 0.05. Totally, 49.3% (n=66) of the participants were female. The subjects’ mean age and work experience were 35.3±8.7 and 11.4±7.7 years, respectively. Cut-off point of 17 was determined with the highest sensitivity (0.71) and specificity (0.71) based on ROC curve. The highest prevalence of MSSs was observed in the knees (n=44, 32.8%) and lower back (n=31, 23.1%). Multiple linear regression modeling also showed that age, sex, and the prevalence of MSSs were significantly associated with the FMS test score. FMS test seems to be an appropriate screening tool in pre-employment and periodic medical tests for jobs requiring physical fitness and optimum functional movements.

Human brain performance and arousal are still challenging and critical, especially in environments such as power plants. Since different emotions are common in daily work life and have inevitable effects on cognitive performance, it is important to evaluate whether emotional interventions can alter brain arousal. Poor cognitive performance in control room operators (CROs) can lead to mental fatigue and affect their cognitive emotion regulation. To address this issue, flicker fusion frequency (FFF) was employed as a simple and reproducible surrogate index for mental fatigue.

This study aimed to investigate whether emotionally loaded visual stimuli can alter brain arousal (brain fatigue) or is associated with cognitive emotion regulation (CER) ability.

Flicker fusion frequency was assessed by RT-961, and the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) was adopted as the picture database of stimuli. Additionally, the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) was used to determine the participants’ cognitive emotion CER ability. Twenty volunteer CROs from Fars Combined Cycle Power Plant participated in this study. After completing the CERQ, they were assessed at 2 different time points (ie, before and after presenting emotional stimuli). Flicker fusion frequency was assessed 20 times at each round, and the average frequency was recorded. Emotionally loaded images were considered as stimuli. The stimuli sets were classified based on their arousal levels and valences, yet they were presented in random order. Subjects were exposed to each image for 5 seconds (30 minutes in total).

The participants’ mean age was 39.55 ± 7.02 years. The first and second FFFs were 42.15 ± 3.90 and 41.96 ± 3.98 in the appropriate group and 42.82 ± 3.59 and 42.26 ± 4.07 in the inappropriate group. Based on the statistical tests, there were no significant relationships between the measurements (P > 0.05).

Control room operators may positively maintain their brain arousal during specific emotional stimuli when the intervention lasts less than 30 minutes. Considering the prolonged working hours in such industries (roughly over 8 hours a day) and the importance of cognitive aptitude in preventing work-related errors, we propose this line of research to gain momentum.

Cognitive emotion regulation (CER) strategies define as cognition-based responses according to emotion-eliciting experiences that can change the type and severity of individuals’ reactions and behaviors. This modification may positively or negatively affect cognitive performance and therefore, it is a defining issue in the workplace. Notably, industries such as combined cycle power plants need to hire staff with a high cognitive ability to perform their duties in a highly efficient way. Since CER is of great importance for overall health and cognitive performance, we aimed to evaluate the state of CER among control room operators (CROs) in the Fars combined cycle power plant.

The CER questionnaire (CERQ) measures nine cognitive coping strategies (i.e., self-blame, other-blame, rumination, catastrophizing, positive refocusing, planning, positive reappraisal, putting into perspective, and acceptance) that are followed when an individual confronts negative events. The CERQ (short version) was administered to 57 male CROs at the Fars combined cycle power plant. The questionnaire also collected demographic data. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS Version 25.0. For the normality test, Shapiro-Wilk was the method of choice.

Results of the CERQ scoring showed that the median with interquartile range (IQR) in appropriate and inappropriate categories were 3.50 (3.30-4.00) and 2.62 (2.25-3.06), respectively. Of note, age (39.07 ±6.19) and work experience (14.49±6.26) were not significantly correlated with the results of CERQ.

Taken together, adaptive cognitive strategies (acceptance, positive refocusing, planning, positive reappraisal, and putting into perspective) were reported to be used more often than less adaptive strategies. In general, staff strategies were appropriate while facing a negative event. Although assessing CER in high-demand workplaces is necessary, factors such as managerial styles, job engagement, job satisfaction, and larger sample size should be further studied.

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.

This study sought to examine the effects of helmet weight on cognitive performance and mental workload. Twenty participants were studied in 3 one-hour sessions.

The study participants were requested to read and work with computers under the following 3 conditions: wearing no helmets, wearing a helmet that weighed 800 g (A), and a helmet weighing 1500 g (B). “N-back” task and Continuous Performance Test (CPT) were employed to assess cognitive performance. At the same time, NASA-TLX and Thermal Comfort and Fatigue Perception Scale were used to evaluate mental workload and comfort. At the end of the intervention sessions, perceived mental workload, thermal comfort, and fatigue in the head were measured. Moreover, the research participants’ cognitive performance was gauged before and after the sessions.

The present study findings revealed that helmet weight significantly impacted cognitive performance (P<0.001). However, no significant difference was detected in the participants’ mental workload before and after the intervention.

Helmet weight could affect cognitive performance. Therefore, in designing helmets, the helmet’s weight should be considered an essential factor.

 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.

Craniofacial anthropometry and anthropometric ratios are used in different sciences such as dentistry, medicine, oral and maxillofacial surgery, growth studies, plastic surgery, bioengineering and production of personal protective equipment. The purpose of this study is to introduce Digimizer software to measure facial dimensions and compare manual dimensional measurement and photoanthropometry with this software.

In This descriptive-analytical study 12 female students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences participated. Measurement of face dimensions of samples was done manually and by photographic methods and data analysis was performed with SPSS software version 19 and descriptive-analytical tests.

From the ten dimensions of the measured dimensions, a significant difference was observed in the three dimensions of the Subnasal-Nasal Root Length (SNRL), Menton-Nasal Root Length (MNRL) (Face Length) and Bitragion-Menton Arc (TRMA) dimensions,(P <0.05 ). No significant differences were observed in other dimensions. The ICC (Intra Class Correlation) coefficient for both methods was obtained in the range of 0.56-0.94.

This study showed that the use of Digimizer software can replace the use of manual method in measuring the dimensions of the face and in the preparation of anthropometric database of the face in less time is preferable to the manual method.

Despite huge advances in science, technology, and medical equipment, numerous concerns grow over healthcare workers (HCWs) since they are exposed to a wide range of biological hazards due to the nature of their work.

The current study aimed at developing and validating an index to assess the risk of occupational safety and health (OSH) in hospitals and healthcare settings.

In the current cross-sectional study, an index called the hospital occupational safety, and health risk assessment (HOSHRA) was developed and validated through the face and content validity as well as internal consistency and inter-rater reliability. Ultimately, the developed index was utilized to assess OSH risks in 36 teaching hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

The mean score of the HOSHRA index among the selected hospitals was 71.53 ± 5.93, indicating that the OSH risks were at a moderate level. According to the HOSHRA action levels, OSH risk level for ergonomic hazards was high, but it was moderate for physical, chemical, ergonomic, and psychological ones. In terms of physical hazard subcategories, the risk of electrical hazard, as well as fire and explosion, was high, but it was moderate for fall and slip, and radiation.

The developed observation-based method showed an acceptable content validity and reliability for OSH risk assessment of hospitals. The HOSHRA index could also be used for hospitals as an applicable measure to improve their OSH.

Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) are widespread around the world and are the second most common cause of disability in work settings. A number of occupational factors such as forceful exertions, awkward postures, repetitive movements, and local contact stress can lead to the development of musculoskeletal problems. There is an association between the use of hand tools and onset of work-related musculoskeletal symptoms. Working with hand tools exposes users to one or more of these factors. Using hand tools, particularly if the job requires using the tools for a prolonged period of time, may also cause increased discomfort and fatigue which may be due to the existence of high stresses on the anatomical structures of the hand. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) and writer’s cramp are common injuries among writers, which may occur through excessive precise activity with the exertion of hands and fingers during writing, particularly with inappropriate techniques. There is strong evidence of a positive association between exposure to a combination of ergonomic risk factors (e.g., force and repetition, force and posture) and CTS. Writer’s cramp appears to be triggered by writing for long period of time.
Ergonomic hand tool design involves optimizing the handle to effectively carry out the intended function of the tool with the least load to muscles, tendons, skin, and joints. One aspect of this process is to optimize hand–tool contact area in order to maximize grip strength, minimize contact stress with special interest to sensitive areas of the palm and wrist, and provide appropriate tactile feedback. The grip strength is determined by the biomechanical advantage created by finger joint angles as well as the physiological advantage associated with the differences in muscle length. The hand posture and the related grip strength are influenced by the shape of the handle and the hand size.
Anthropometric data provides information on static dimensions of the human body in standard postures. Anthropometric measurement of human limbs plays an important role in design of workplace, clothes, hand tools, and many products for human use. To design any product for human use, human factors engineers/ergonomists have to rely on anthropometric data, otherwise, the output product may turn out to be a non-ergonomically designed product or the product may turn out to be ergonomically incompatible. The interaction of handle size and shape with the kinematics and anthropometry of the hand have a great effect on hand posture and grip strength. The process of designing and selecting the hand tools to provide a better fit for the user lies on the shoulders of human factor engineers /ergonomists. Poor ergonomic hand tool design is a well-known factor contributing to biomechanical stresses and increasing the risk of cumulative trauma and carpal tunnel syndrome disorders of workers. Hand anthropometry is useful for determining various aspects of industrial machineries, so as to design the equipment and machines for higher efficiency and more human comfort.
Handwriting is an important skill for school-aged children and there is clear relationship between pencil grip posture and handwriting skills. Ergonomic factors like pencil grip, paper position, sitting posture for writing, upper extremity stability and mobility, should be considered with the purpose of effectively promoting efficient handwriting skills. Ergonomically designed hand tools can reduce user discomfort, biomechanical stresses, and risk factors for musculoskeletal symptoms and injuries in hands. Furthermore, by improving the quality and usability of hand tools, it is possible to improve efficiency and work productivity. Using an ergonomic pen is an effective solution to reduce upper limbs musculoskeletal disorders. Using a pen with ergonomic design, especially from childhood, can cause to create a right grip posture for writing and improves the pen grip posture among older people. By getting upper limbs at neutral posture, writing is more comfortable lower chance of hand injuries.
Given the above, the aims of this study were to design, fabricate and evaluate a new type of pen to improve the posture of the wrists, hands, and fingers, and enhance writers’ comfort.

This interventional study was carried out in the Department of Ergonomics, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences from October 2013 to May 2014. The study consisted of 3 phases, including:a) Designing an ergonomic pen: by reviewing the literature and evaluating the features of the available pens, the idea of the design of a new pen was formed. The features, such as optimal grip, attractive and desirable form, reducing contact stress and muscles fatigue, as well as adapting to hand size for everybody, were focused in the design process.
b) Fabricating the model and the prototype of the pen based on anthropometric data:the anthropometric parameters of hand that were considered in the design of the pen included: the length of the thumb, the index finger, the middle finger, and hand thickness. The models of the pen were made by plaster. After modifying the details and layout of the pens, one size of the models was made from the final material. It should be mentioned that the prototype was designed and made just for right-handed people.
c) Assessment of some parameters of the new ergonomic pen: In the next step, the ultimate prototype with its final materials was assessed. A new pen made by a 3-dimensional printer and three common pens were compared by 28 subjects. The participants had no musculoskeletal symptoms in the upper limp. The data collection tools consisted of visual analog scales (VAS) and Borg’s rating physical effort scale. After the users performed the writing tasks by four pens, they were asked to rate comfort using the VAS. VAS is a 10-cm instrument, with values from zero representing extremely uncomfortable and to 10 indicating extremely comfortable. The physical exertion/stress felt by each user during the writing task was evaluated using Borg scale of 6-20. In this scale, the values near 20 and 6 represented more difficulty and more comfort, respectively. This scale has been used in a number of studies.Data were statistically analyzed by one-way ANOVA and independent t-test using SPSS software version 21.

The means (SD) of age and duration of working with pen per day (Hrs) in the subjects studied were 22.17 (3.41) and 5.83 (1.22), respectively. In accordance with the basic idea, the pen was designed in five sizes for percentiles of 5th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 99th to cover at least 90% of the target group. The prototype was one size of the pen models that was printed by 3D printer. The highest mean (SD) of the users’ comfort was 8.35 (0.95) related to the newly designed pen. The results revealed a reduction in the users’ rating of perceived exertion while writing with the new pen.

In this study, a new type of pen was designed and fabricated to improve upper limb and hand postures while writing. According to findings of this study, the new pen helped correct the grip of hand while writing. The results of this study showed that the ergonomically designed pen was more comfortable to use. Also, it exerted less physical stress on tissues of hand compared to the other evaluated pens during writing. The new ergonomic pen with specific features (i.e., different form, and design in various sizes to provide more adaptation with hand) increased the users’ comfort and reduced the users’ physical exertion while writing. It is believed that using the new ergonomic pen can prevent and reduce wrist and hand musculoskeletal injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome and cramp in the long periods of time.

Upper limb musculoskeletal disorders are prevalent and undesirable health consequences among workers in clothing industry. To improve working conditions, workplace ergonomic assessment is necessary. This study was conducted among workers of clothing manufacturing workshops to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and to assess ergonomic working conditions to identify major risk factors associated with musculoskeletal symptoms.

One hundred and fifty female workers from clothing manufacturing workshops of Yazd city participated. The Nordic questionnaire and an ergonomics checklist consisting of 6 sections were used as data collection tools. An index was calculated for each section of the checklist. Action categories indicating the priority of corrective measures were also defined. Data analysis was performed using the ANOVA and ROC curve tests by SPSS software (version 17).

The results showed a high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, especially in the upper limbs among the study population. In this study, a significant association was found between the calculated ergonomics index and MSDs in different body regions (p<0.05). The mean of this index among the workers who reported symptoms was less than those of the other group indicating undesirable ergonomic conditions. In addition, 68.7% of the workers were categorized in the first priority of intervention (requiring ergonomic intervention as soon as possible).

The prevalence of MSDs was high among the workers of clothing workshops. The developed checklist was considered as an appropriate and low cost tool for ergonomic evaluation of sewing workshops. The results also indicated that most ergonomic problems in these workshops originate from inappropriate general working conditions, work organization, manual material handling, hand tools, workstation and working post

This study aimed to examine nurses’ job stress based on Karasek’s demand‑control‑ support model and assess its relationship with different aspects of fatigue. This cross‑sectional study was conducted on 522 nurses working in educational hospitals. Job stress dimensions and fatigue were measured by the Persian version of Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI), respectively. The results showed that psychological and physical job demands obtained high scores, but social support and decision latitude got low scores. MFI results indicated that the highest score was related to the general fatigue. Moreover, the results showed a signifcant positive relationship between psychological job demands and general fatigue, but a signifcant negative correlation to reduced activity. Considering the effects of job stress on nurses’ fatigue, it is necessary to develop a suitable interventional program for nurses in healthcare centers, especially hospitals, to decrease job stress and improve working conditions

Fatigue is a common symptom in offce workers. The purpose of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue (P‑MAF) scale and its association with productivity among Iranian offce workers. In order to validate the MAF scale, using “forward-backward” translation, cognitive debriefng, and cultural adaptation procedure, the English version of the MAF was translated into Farsi. A total of 129 Iranian offce workers with at least 1‑year job experience were included in the study. The Persian version of the Health and Work Questionnaire was used for assessment of the productivity in the participants. Internal consistency for all subscales of the P-MAF scale was acceptable ( ≥ 0.854). The correlation of convergent validity and the correlation of discriminant validity for all subscales ranged from 0.466 to 0.948 and 0.121 to 0.5, respectively. Internal consistency of each subscale of P‑MAF for sex, marital status, job tenure, and daily working hours was high (0.810–0.952). Factor analysis of the P-MAF scale revealed that its items were related to severity, distress, timing of fatigue, interference with activity at home, and interference with activity away from home. The results showed signifcant correlations between the score of fatigue and some subscales of P-MAF, including concentration/focus (r = 0.649, P < 0.001) and impatience/irritability (r = 0.334, P = 0.001). The P‑MAF had appropriate structural characteristics, was a valid and reliable instrument, and could be used for measuring fatigue among Iranian offce workers

For an organization to be successful, the productivity of its employees is of vital importance.This study aimed to: 1) translate and examine the psychometric properties of the Health and Work Questionnaire (HWQ) among Iranian office workers, and 2) Determine the association between six subscales of the Persian version of HWQ (P-HWQ) and Work-related Musculoskeletal Symptoms (WMSs) among the subjects.
This cross-sectional study was conducted among office workers employed at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. In order to standardize the questionnaire, the English version of the HWQ was translated into Persian (the Iranian official language), using the standard “forward-backward” translation, cognitive debriefing, and cultural adaptation procedure. The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) was used to determine the WMSs prevalence rate among the subjects.
129 office workers, including 44 (34.1%) males and 85 (65.9%) females with a mean ± SD age of 36.22±7.72 years voluntarily participated in this study. Internal consistency of the P-HWQ was acceptable for all subscales (0.65≤α). Factor analysis of the P-HWQ for each item related to the subscale was acceptable (0.4<). The highest prevalence rates of WMSs in the last week were related to lower back (51.2%), neck (43.4%), and shoulders (41.1%). The concentration/focus subscale of productivity (derived from P-HWQ) was related to WMSs in participants.
The P-HWQ has good structural characteristics, is a valid and reliable instrument, and can be used for measuring the productivity of Iranian office workers. Improvement of working conditions is suggested to reduce the musculoskeletal problems, and enhancement of people’s concentration/focus and productivity.

The recognition of a system failure causes and their related factors are considered as the most important factor in preventing accident occurrence in different organizations including industries. Human error is a known important factor in unpredictable events of which cognitive factors are the most influential ones. The purpose of this study was to introduce a new model for individual cognitive factors influencing human error as well as determining the interactions between the factors and their intensity using DEMATEL approach. First a qualitative study was performed in order to identify and elicit the individual cognitive factors influencing human error among the workers of different industries. To ensure the adequacy and comprehensiveness of the elicited factors, then, the experts’ opinion was applied. DEMATEL method was used for understanding the interactions among the individual cognitive factors influencing human error. Finally, using these relationships, a new model of the study was proposed. Calculating D-R and D+R relating to the factors in terms of being cause or effect factor, D-R was -1.213 for C5 as the highest negative value, and D+R was 2.294 for the same factor (C5). Also, threshold level was calculated as 0.087 in the current study In this study, the factors of failure in problem solving and decision making (C5) and difficulty in predicting possible hazards in the workplace are effects and the other factors were the cause factors. The factor of C5 was the highest interactive factor.

Hypertension is nowadays increasingly observed among the workforce population. There are many risk factors for hypertension. This study was conducted to survey hypertension and its associated risk factors among male workers of the industrial sector in Shiraz city. 500 male workers employed in Shiraz city industries participated voluntarily (age range of 20 to 59 years). A questionnaire and direct measurements were used to collect required data. The questionnaire consisted of two parts including a) demographic and occupational and b) anthropometric (height, weight, BMI, WHtR) and physiological (blood pressure and VO2-max) characteristics of the subjects. Mean (standard deviation) of systolic and diastolic Blood Pressure (BP), and Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP) in workers were 128.37±14.78, 83.13±13.10, and 98.21±13.36 mmHg, respectively. The results showed that systolic and diastolic BP, and MAP significantly were related to BMI, shift work, and smoking. Also, statistical analysis revealed that mean values of VO2-max between workers with normal and high blood pressure are significantly different. The results of this study demonstrated that domestic and occupational life style and cardio-respiratory fitness are the risk factors for hypertension in the studied workers.

The organizational leadership style can be considered as an important psychosocial factor that may affect workers’ health, safety, and productivity. The current study aimed at investigating the relationship between organizational leadership style and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among workers. The current descriptive, cross sectional study was conducted on 188 employees, including 10 leaders and 178 followers of an Iranian process industry. Nordic MSDs questionnaire (NMQ) and leadership style questionnaire (MLQ) were used as data collection tools. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS version 19. Totally, 71.7% of the participants reported experiencing the symptoms of MSDs during the last 12 months. The highest prevalence of MSDs was in lower back (47.2%), shoulder (34.8%), and neck (32.4%), respectively. Statistical analysis revealed that the mean scores of transformational and laissez faire leadership styles in the two groups of with and without MSDs were significantly different. MSDs had high prevalence among workers of the studied process industry. Higher rate of MSDs was observed among the workers with higher scores of laissez faire leadership style. In contrast, the employees under transformational leadership style as the dominant management method, reported lower rate of MSDs complaints. As a conclusion, a relationship was observed between the leadership style and MSDs occurrence in the studied industry.

Fatigue, as a destructive phenomenon, can have adverse effects on various aspects of workers’ lives. Job burnout is one of the important consequences of fatigue among employees including nurses in different workplaces, especially healthcare centers.
The present study aimed to assess the relationship between fatigue and job burnout.
This cross sectional study was conducted on 522 nurses, who were randomly selected from teaching hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS), Shiraz, Iran. Fatigue dimensions and job burnout were measured by Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), respectively.
The results revealed that among burnout dimensions, depersonalization and diminished personal accomplishment had the highest mean scores, while emotional exhaustion had the lowest mean score. Among different fatigue dimensions, the highest mean score was related to general fatigue. Moreover, the results of Pearson’s correlation test showed a significant positive relationship between emotional exhaustion and fatigue dimensions. Also, a significant direct correlation was found between depersonalization and general, physical, and mental fatigue. On the other hand, a significant negative correlation was observed between diminished personal accomplishment and all fatigue dimensions, except mental fatigue.
Considering the adverse effects of fatigue on various aspects of nurses’ job burnout, more attention should be paid to fatigue in healthcare facilities, especially hospitals. In addition, a suitable managerial program should be developed to decrease nurses’ job burnout and other fatigue consequences and to improve working conditions.

Standardized self-report questionnaires, because of their low costs and the ease of the summarization and analysis of their results, are considered as the most important and widely used approach to identifying and assessing work-related stressors. Current study was carried out with the aim of reviewing the available questionnaires for work-related stressor factors.
In this systematic review study, all the available work-related stress questionnaires in the time span from 1975 to 2016 were collected through running search in several authentic indexing and citation databases and then the collected questionnaire were examined.
Generally, according to the criteria considered, a total of 23 questionnaires met the inclusion criteria for the final stage of the study. All these questionnaires had been designed and developed in industrial countries. However, according to our literature review, the psychometric properties had only been studied for the Persian translations of the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ), the Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) questionnaire, the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ), the Health & Safety Executive Management Standards Indicator Tool (HSE-MS), the General Nordic Questionnaire (QPS-Nordic), and the NIOSH Generic Job Stress Questionnaire (GJSQNIOSH).
With regard to the diversity of available questionnaires and their subscales, it is suggested that Iranian researchers and organizations, firstly identify the stressor factors related to their own specific jobs through running qualitative studies and then start to assess the occupational stressor factors related to their specific job environments through developing their own standardized questionnaires or employing the subscales of the available questionnaires covering their specific problems.

Most workers are exposed to a variety of hazards in their workplace. Devising a comprehensive checklist and developing an index for Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) assessment could be useful. This study was conducted in a heavy automotive company with the aim of developing and validating an OSH assessment index.
Methods and Materials: We used the experiences and comments of OSH experts to devise a checklist for OSH assessment. Weighting various harmful factors was done using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique. Intra-class Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was applied to measure the reliability of the checklist (SPSS version 20). In the studied industry, 150 workstations were assessed using the developed comprehensive checklist. In order to validate the total index, we assessed its correlation with 4 groups of occupational statistics (i.e. accident frequency, severity rates, lost working time rate, and occupational disease incidence rate). A p value of Among 7 sub-indices, sub-indexes of occupational health and the workplace order (w=0.21) and housekeeping (w=0.04) had the highest and the lowest AHP weights, respectively. The mean of ICC was found to be 0.978. The total index (OSHITotal) and the Accident Severity Rate (ASR) had a strong inverse significant correlation (r = -0.774, P=0.002).
The developed index covered important occupational hazards. The inter-evaluator reliability for this index was high.

The high item numbers is one of the Work Ability Index (WAI) limitations that make it difficult to be completed by the workers. Using the single-item Work Ability Score (WAS) as a simple is one of the proposed solutions which is valid and suitable measure for work ability.
The present study aimed to assess work ability using WAI and WAS instruments and to compare their results among Iranian workers.
This cross-sectional study was done on 1579 workers from eleven different work sectors located in different geographical areas in Iran. Work ability was measured by the full Persian version of WAI. Data were analyzed using univariate tests, Pearson product moment correlation, Gamma test, and multiple liner regression analysis.
The mean scores of the WAI and WAS were 39.95 ± 6.1 (range 15 - 49) and 8.1 ± 1.8 (range 0 - 10), respectively. Both the WAI and WAS showed the similar patterns of associations with the assessed independent variable. There was a strong correlation between the mean scores of WAI and WAS. In addition, the Gamma test showed that the categories of WAI were strongly correlated with the categories of WAS.
The WAS could be used for reliable assessment of work ability among Iranian workers. To improve the worker’s work ability, interventional programs should focus on the alteration and correction of work schedule, and increasing the supervisor’s support for the young workers.

One of the major problems in hospitals that resulting in a high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among employees is activities related to handling patients. This study investigated the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in people with patient handling task using MAPO index in 2015 In one of the military hospitals in Tehran.
This cross-sectional study among 230 nurses in a 400-bed military hospital in Tehran. The instruments used in the study included the Nordic Questionnaire, MAPO index checklist, demographic questionnaire .
The main results can be the high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among employees, especially low back disorders, shoulder, wrist, and so on that back pain (75%) were most common among employees also the frequency of musculoskeletal disorders in female employees most of the employees were men.
The results of this study show that the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among nursing personnel with patient handling task is high and therefore the need for intervention ergonomic in design environments and tools at the same time educational intervention there.

Three-dimensional (3D) scanners are widely used in medicine. One of the applications of 3D scanners is the acquisition of anthropometric dimensions for ergonomics and the creation of an anthropometry data bank. The aim of this study was to evaluate the precision and accuracy of a modified 3D scanner fabricated in this study.
In this work, a 3D scan of the human body was obtained using DAVID Laser Scanner software and its calibration background, a linear low-power laser, and one advanced webcam. After the 3D scans were imported to the Geomagic software, 10 anthropometric dimensions of 10 subjects were obtained. The measurements of the 3D scanner were compared to the measurements of the same dimensions by a direct anthropometric method. The precision and accuracy of the measurements of the 3D scanner were then evaluated. The obtained data were analyzed using an independent sample t test with the SPSS software.
The minimum and maximum measurement differences from three consecutive scans by the 3D scanner were 0.03 mm and 18 mm, respectively. The differences between the measurements by the direct anthropometry method and the 3D scanner were not statistically significant. Therefore, the accuracy of the 3D scanner is acceptable.
Future studies will need to focus on the improvement of the scanning speed and the quality of the scanned image.