Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 57 in total

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  1. Ademola James, Rohani JM, Olusegun AG, Rani MR
    Work, 2014;47(2):173-81.
    PMID: 23324693 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-121530
    OBJECTIVE: The unavailability of anthropometric data especially in developing countries has remained a limiting factor towards the design of learning facilities with sufficient ergonomic consideration. Attempts to use anthropometric data from developed countries have led to provision of school facilities unfit for the users. The purpose of this paper is to use factor analysis to investigate the suitability of the collected anthropometric data as a database for school design in Nigerian tertiary institutions.
    PARTICIPANTS: Anthropometric data were collected from 288 male students in a Federal Polytechnic in North-West of Nigeria. Their age is between 18-25 years.
    METHODS: Nine vertical anthropometric dimensions related to heights were collected using the conventional traditional equipment. Exploratory factor analysis was used to categorize the variables into a model consisting of two factors. Thereafter, confirmatory factor analysis was used to investigate the fit of the data to the proposed model.
    RESULTS: A just identified model, made of two factors, each with three variables was developed. The variables within the model accounted for 81% of the total variation of the entire data. The model was found to demonstrate adequate validity and reliability. Various measuring indices were used to verify that the model fits the data properly. The final model reveals that stature height and eye height sitting were the most stable variables for designs that have to do with standing and sitting construct.
    CONCLUSION: The study has shown the application of factor analysis in anthropometric data analysis. The study highlighted the relevance of these statistical tools to investigate variability among anthropometric data involving diverse population, which has not been widely used for analyzing previous anthropometric data. The collected data is therefore suitable for use while designing for Nigerian students.
    KEYWORDS: Exploratory factor analysis; measurement model; school ergonomics
  2. Adeyemi AJ, Rohani JM, Rani MR
    Work, 2015;52(3):677-86.
    PMID: 26409348 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-152102
    The complex and limited understanding of the interactions among multiple factors associated with back pain occurrence among schoolchildren might explain the current inconclusive and contradictory findings on the issue. The global increase in the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity, which reportedly affects children's physical abilities, calls for concern among school/children ergonomists and other stakeholders.
  3. Ahmad P, Chaudhary FA, Asif JA, AlSagob EI, Alkahtany MF, Almadi KH, et al.
    Work, 2022;71(1):177-186.
    PMID: 34924411 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-205093
    BACKGROUND: When anxiety is persistent among dental students, the consequence could be poor academic performance, ill health, lack of empathy, and exhaustion.

    OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the level of anxiety along with anxiety-provoking factors among clinical dental students.

    METHODS: This study included dental undergraduate and postgraduate clinical students from a public university. A modified version of the self-administered Moss and McManus questionnaire, which consisted of 50 items, was utilized to evaluate the levels of anxiety. The results were analyzed using SPSS® version 24. The significance level was set at p 

  4. Al-Oulabi A, Al Rawas M, Farook TH, Rashid F, Barman A, Jamayet NB, et al.
    Work, 2021 Jun 25.
    PMID: 34180457 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-213519
    BACKGROUND: Two patients received ocular injuries from rusted metallic projectiles at their industrial workplaces. Said injuries resulted in the loss of their eyes by evisceration surgeries to prevent fatal infections.

    CASE DESCRIPTION: The first case, a man in his twenties, received a stock conformer immediately after surgery and started prosthetic therapy within 2 months. The second case, a man in his forties, started prosthetic therapy after 10 years. Definitive custom ocular prostheses were fabricated and relined according to conventional protocol.

    RESULTS: On issue of the prosthesis, there was adequate retention, aesthetics and stability to extra-ocular movements and treatment was considered successful for both cases. However, follow-ups showed noticeable prosthetic eye movements for case 1 which, to some extent mimicked the physiologic movement of its fellow natural eye. Case 1 adjusted to his prosthesis better while case 2 was still adjusting with little to no physiologic movement.

    CONCLUSION: Prosthetic rehabilitation should be started as early as possible to obtain optimum rehabilitative results.

  5. Alshiddi IF, Habib SR, Sattar K, Alshahrani A, Almufleh RS, Basuhail S, et al.
    Work, 2021;70(4):1187-1194.
    PMID: 34842205 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-205134
    OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) among dentists in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study also explored the causes of occupational stress among the participating dentists.

    MATERIALS & METHODS: The participants included a conveniently selected sample of dentists (N = 126; Males = 65; Females = 61). The participants' anthropometric measurements/blood sample analysis were carried out and they completed a self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis included demographics, gender/age wise comparison using SPSS (p  0.05) were observed for cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL. However, significant difference (p = 0.00) was found for the fasting glucose level (Males = 5.69±1.49; Females = 4.94±0.42). Overall mean scoring (3.00±1.11) for the stress showed that the participants fall into the average/moderate level of stress category (Males = 3.16±1.02; Females = 2.83±1.08). Almost two third (68.26%) of the participant's responded that they were under some kind of stress.

    CONCLUSIONS: MS was found to be less frequent among the dentists working in the city of Riyadh. Overall, the dentists were under moderate level of occupational stress, with male dentists being more prone to work related stress.

  6. Appannan JS, Maheswaran L, Raimee N, Lim WL, Amran FH
    Work, 2022;73(4):1135-1145.
    PMID: 36057808 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-211467
    BACKGROUND: Millions of employees were laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic. The hospitality industry has been gravely hit by this crisis.

    OBJECTIVE: Drawing from the theory of conservation of resources (COR), our study aims to examine possible factors that influence turnover intention among hotel employees.

    METHODS: The hypotheses were tested on 141 hotel employees from Klang Valley, Malaysia. Data were collected by means of questionnaires, purposive sampling was employed, and PLS-SEM was used in performing the data analyses.

    RESULTS: Job insecurity and psychological distress were found to be the potent antecedent of turnover intention. In contrast, the role of perceived supervisor support did not significantly moderate the effects of both job insecurity and psychological distress on the quitting intention.

    CONCLUSION: Re-looking at existing policies and leadership styles may be fruitful in ensuring the sustainability path of an organization. This is pivotal in growing back the entire hospitality industry that has gravely affected by COVID-19.

  7. Auyong HN, Zailani S, Surienty L
    Work, 2016 Mar 09;53(4):729-35.
    PMID: 26967037 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-162272
    BACKGROUND: Malaysia's progress on logistics has been slowed to keep pace with its growth in trade. The Government has been pressing companies to improve the safety of their activities in order to reduce society's loss due to occupational accidents and illnesses. Occupational safety and health is a crucial part of a workplace because every worker has to take care of his/her own safety and health. The main occupational safety and health (OSH) national policy in Malaysia is the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994. Only those companies which have excellent health and safety care have good quality and productive employees. This study investigated safety management practices in the logistics sector.

    OBJECTIVES: The present study is concerned with the human factors to safety in the logistics industry. The authors examined the perceived safety management practices of workers in the logistics sector. The purpose was to identify the perception of safety management practices of Malaysian logistics personnel.

    METHODS: Survey questionnaires were distributed to assess logistics personnel about management commitment. The quantitative method using the availability sampling method was applied. The data gathered from the survey were analysed using SPSS software. The responses to the survey were rated according to the Likert scale type, with '1' indicating strongly disagree and '5' indicating strongly agree. One hundred and three employees of logistics functions completed the survey.

    RESULTS: The highest mean scores were found for fire apparatus, prioritisation of safety, and safety policy.

    CONCLUSIONS: The results from this study also emphasise the importance of the management's commitment in enhancing workplace safety. Specifically, companies should maintain good relations between the employer and the employee to help reduce workplace injuries.

  8. Buntat Y, Saud MS, Mokhtar M, Kamin Y, Feh LS
    Work, 2016 Oct 17;55(2):481-487.
    PMID: 27689600
    Increase in the occurrence of existing diseases, continual emergence of new or exotic diseases and re-emergence of old diseases have placed increasing demands on biomedical services in Malaysia. Biomedical technicians play an important role in operating biomedical instruments. However, there are no clear specifications about characteristics and traits for these semi-professional employees. Employers in a few studies claimed that biomedical graduates are not ready to enter and face challenges in the job market.
  9. Chin TL, Chee TL
    Work, 2023 Dec 21.
    PMID: 38143417 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-230522
    BACKGROUND: Strengthening safety compliance behaviour can reduce the organizations' unexpected financial losses and prevent employees from continuous COVID-19. It drives this study to create a research framework involved by organizational, individual and social factors to predict employees' safety compliance behaviour.

    OBJECTIVE: This study examines how risk perceptions of COVID-19, employee well-being, workplace health and safety training, safety motivation and safety related stigma impact safety compliance behavior in times COVID-19 pandemic.

    METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was disseminated to healthcare workers. In all, 344 acceptable questionnaires were derived for further analysis.

    RESULTS: The results revealed that the risk perception of COVID-19 and employee well-being has no significant relationship with safety compliance behavior. Similarly, safety related stigma also has no moderating effect on safety motivation and safety compliance behavior. However, workplace health and safety training and safety motivation have significant relationships with safety compliance behavior.

    CONCLUSION: This study contributes to the literature by illuminating on the importance of organizational, individual, social factors and how they can interact with safety compliance behaviour. Additionally, knowing the unique function of safety related stigma in building safety compliance behaviour may help guide future efforts and training initiatives to enhance workplace safety.

  10. Das G, Ahmed S, Ahmed AR, Tirth V, Jamil S, Muhammad AA, et al.
    Work, 2021;70(2):387-393.
    PMID: 34657847 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-213602
    BACKGROUND: Medical professionals, especially dental professionals, have been adversely affected by the pandemic of COVID-19 due to an increased chance of exposure to patients because of close contact during treatments.

    OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate knowledge about the disease and assess ways of precautions to be taken during the pandemic.

    METHODS: A questionnaire was developed and registered at Google Forms. The study population included dental practitioners, working in hospitals and clinics. A total of 495 dental practitioners from 14 different countries across the world responded. Most dentists were aware of the required modifications in the management of patients. The points allotted for each correct/best answer by participants for a group of questions regarding each component (Knowledge, Perceptions, and Practices) were added/summed to generate an overall score for each of the three components.

    RESULTS: Both univariate and multivariate analysis employed for the evaluation of results. Moreover, the total practice score was significantly associated with gender and sector of practice. Multivariable analysis model using multiple linear regressions was formulated by including those variables which were significant at the univariate stage. Hence, the practice sector was the only variable found to be significantly associated with the total knowledge score (p-value 

  11. Deepa S, Kumaresan A, Suganthirabab P, Srinivasan V, Vishnuram S, Alagesan J, et al.
    Work, 2023;75(2):413-421.
    PMID: 36872818 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-220063
    BACKGROUND: The entire education industry switched from offline to online modes as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Numerous teachers who were diagnosed with musculoskeletal, psychological, and other neurodegenerative diseases have reported increased exhaustion, lack of sleep, a decline in quality of life (QoL), a decrease in physical activity, and excessive stress from online classes during the COVID-19 lockdown, especially women.

    OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of three-modal exercise on fatigue, sleep, QoL as well as to determine the relationship between age, disease severity, disease stage and working years with women diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD).

    METHODS: In this randomized controlled trial, 44 female educators in stages I-II with PD who were between the ages of 40 and 60 volunteered. For a total of 36 sessions over the course of six weeks, Group A received a three-modal fitness program through online video sessions, whereas Group B received Nordic walking. The outcome measures included the Fatigue Severity Scale, Parkinson's Disease Sleep Scale, and Parkinson's Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire-39.

    RESULTS: Age, Hoehn and Yahr scale, working years, and PD in years did not correlate with each other (p > 0.50). The three-modal exercise experimental Group A showed statistically significant improvement in QoL (p 0.001), sleep (p 0.001), and fatigue (p 0.001).

    CONCLUSION: Women in the field of education who participated in a three-modal exercise programme for PD reported a significant improvement in their level of exhaustion, sleep patterns, and quality of life.

  12. Dhanusia S, Santhana Lakshmi S, Kumar A, Prabhu R, Srinivasan V, Suganthirababu P, et al.
    Work, 2024 Jan 22.
    PMID: 38277326 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-230161
    BACKGROUND: Smartphones are a technical marvel that rapidly evolved to play an important role in our lives. One downside to smartphone use is that it significantly worsens posture. It is believed that using a smartphone while walking increases the risk of cognitive decline and the loss of dynamic balance needed to perform functional tasks.

    OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine the impact of smartphone usage on dynamic postural control among South Indian college students.

    METHODS: The study was carried out in a private college with 400 invited students through online social media platforms. The four-square step test and SAS-SV were used to determine the impact of smartphone usage on dynamic postural control. The students were informed about the study process. A total of 250 participants were included based on the inclusion criteria.

    RESULTS: There was a high percentage of agreement on smartphone usage on dynamic postural control measured with SAS-SV, revealing statistical significance with a mean value of 41.532 and SD of 10.010886. The four-square step test with a mean value of 22.5 and SD of 1.8995878 also proved significant impact. A positive correlation was found between smartphone usage and dynamic postural control, which was analysed using Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.90130.

    CONCLUSION: A significant correlation was noted between mobile usage and dynamic balance. Smartphones can have a negative impact on dynamic balance by distracting users from their surroundings and increase the risk of falls.

  13. Guangnan Z, Tao H, Rahman MA, Yao L, Al-Saffar A, Meng Q, et al.
    Work, 2021;68(3):871-879.
    PMID: 33612530 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-203421
    BACKGROUND: An isolated robot must take account of uncertainty in its world model and adapt its activities to take into account such as uncertainty. In the same way, a robot interaction with security and privacy issues (RISAPI) with people has to account for its confusion about the human internal state, as well as how this state will shift as humans respond to the robot.

    OBJECTIVES: This paper discusses RISAPI of our original work in the field, which shows how probabilistic planning and system theory algorithms in workplace robotic systems that work with people can allow for that reasoning using a security robot system. The problem is a general way as an incomplete knowledge 2-player game.

    RESULTS: In this general framework, the various hypotheses and these contribute to thrilling and complex robot behavior through real-time interaction, which transforms actual human subjects into a spectrum of production systems, robots, and care facilities.

    CONCLUSION: The models of the internal human situation, in which robots can be designed efficiently, are limited, and achieve optimal computational intractability in large, high-dimensional spaces. To achieve this, versatile, lightweight portrayals of the human inner state and modern algorithms offer great hope for reasoning.

  14. Hashim AM, Dawal SZ, Yusoff N
    Work, 2012;41 Suppl 1:827-31.
    PMID: 22316824 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-2012-0249-827
    The objective of this study is to compare the evaluation of postural analysis between a self-report questionnaire and physical assessments methods for students aged 13 to 15 years old in school workshop. 336 students were volunteered as participants to fill in the questionnaire and being observed in the workshop. Total of 104 positions were selected and analyzed while students performing their tasks. Questionnaire data was examined to specify the prevalence of postural stress symptoms. The relationship of postural stress by physical assessment methods (RULA and REBA methods) was defined to identify the risk level of students' working posture. From the results, comparison of four factors categorized from total of 22 questions among ages, the mean values were lower for 13 years old students meaning that they were faced higher posture problems while using the workstation. The obtained results from both physical assessment methods and questionnaire analysis have identified 13 years old students faced higher risk exposure. Analysis results emphasized the fact that self-reports questionnaire method has almost accurate as postural evaluation methods to identify physical risks in workplace. The result also shows that an intervention is needed to overcome the posture problems.
  15. Ibrahim NI, Davies S
    Work, 2012;41 Suppl 1:5152-9.
    PMID: 22317518 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-2012-0804-5152
    It is known that many older people have difficulties in performing daily living activities such as cooking. These are due to the demands of the tasks and the changes in functional capabilities of the older people. This study examines cooking tasks performed by the aged that includes preparing and cooking meals, and storing kitchen tools in the kitchen. The objectives are to investigate the cooking difficulties encounter by older people and the safety concerning cooking tasks. This study focuses on individuals of age 65 years and above who can cook for themselves and/or family. Data were collected through observation, interviews, questionnaires and role play methods. The findings revealed that the common problems were due to the awkward body position where subjects had to bend down to take things from lower shelves, taking/storing things on higher shelves and cleaning the cooker. Moreover, the safety concerns were the layout of work centres (storage, cooker and sink), the use of cooker and opening packaging. It can be concluded that cooking difficulties are caused by inappropriate kitchen design and the decline of functional capabilities in older people.
  16. Ibrahim NI, Mohanadas D
    Work, 2012;41 Suppl 1:2452-60.
    PMID: 22317086 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-2012-0480-2452
    This study was conducted to investigate pervasiveness of the musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) among staffs in a specialized healthcare centre. Sixty-eight staffs from three departments namely Cardiovascular Lab (CVL), Nuclear Radiology, and General Radiography were recruited in this study. A modified Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) was distributed among study population. The result shows that the prevalence of MSD was highest in lower back (88.2%), neck (76.5%) and shoulder (60.3%) for the past 12 months followed by lower back and elbow (44.1%), and wrist (39.1%) correspondingly, for the past 7 days. Present results suggest that healthcare professionals - radiographers, patient assistants and nurses incurs MSD risks through work tasks as well as psychosocial factors. These include awkward posture during patient handling, workload, work stress and time pressure. Therefore, an ergonomics improvement on the job design and workspace are needed in order to reduce the MSD risks.
  17. Javaid MU, Bano S, Mirza MZ, Isha ASN, Nadeem S, Jawaid A, et al.
    Work, 2019;64(3):551-561.
    PMID: 31658088 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-193016
    BACKGROUND: Psychological conditions are experiences of the conscious and unconscious elements of the work context, which revolve around workers' perceptions of feeling either engaged or disengaged with the assigned tasks. In the psychosocial work environment of hazardous industries like petrochemicals where production lasts twenty-four hours a day and continues seven-days-a-week, a psychologically available worker is extremely important. Psychological availability refers to when workers who are physically, emotionally and psychologically engaged at the moment of performing tasks.

    OBJECTIVE: The broad objective of this study was to investigate the direct and indirect effects of behavioral factors on the psychological and physiological health of workers.

    METHODS: The latest, second generation technique, which is structural equation modeling, is used to identify the relationships between behavioral antecedents and health outcomes. A total of 277 technical workers participated, aged between 20 and 49 and were healthy in all aspects.

    RESULTS: The study results showed quantitative demands, emotional demands, work-family conflict, and job insecurity were significantly associated with both psychological (stress) and physiological (Body Mass Index) factors. The social support of colleagues produced mixed findings with direct and indirect paths. Stress also significantly mediates the psychosocial factors and burnout of the workers.

    CONCLUSION: The study concluded that workers were physically available, but they experienced distractions as members of social systems, affecting their physiological and psychological health.

  18. Jing W, Tao H, Rahman MA, Kabir MN, Yafeng L, Zhang R, et al.
    Work, 2021;68(3):923-934.
    PMID: 33612534 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-203426
    BACKGROUND: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is incorporated with a variety of applications for input processing and response actions. Facial recognition systems in workplaces and security systems help to improve the detection and classification of humans based on the vision experienced by the input system.

    OBJECTIVES: In this manuscript, the Robotic Facial Recognition System using the Compound Classifier (RERS-CC) is introduced to improve the recognition rate of human faces. The process is differentiated into classification, detection, and recognition phases that employ principal component analysis based learning. In this learning process, the errors in image processing based on the extracted different features are used for error classification and accuracy improvements.

    RESULTS: The performance of the proposed RERS-CC is validated experimentally using the input image dataset in MATLAB tool. The performance results show that the proposed method improves detection and recognition accuracy with fewer errors and processing time.

    CONCLUSION: The input image is processed with the knowledge of the features and errors that are observed with different orientations and time instances. With the help of matching dataset and the similarity index verification, the proposed method identifies precise human face with augmented true positives and recognition rate.

  19. Langove N, Javaid MU, Ayyasamy RK, Ibikunle AK, Sabir AA
    Work, 2024;77(1):295-305.
    PMID: 37483056 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-230103
    BACKGROUND: Fear of losing psychological resources can lead to stress, impacting psychological health and behavioral outcomes like burnout, absenteeism, service sabotage, and turnover.

    OBJECTIVE: The study examined the impact of job stressors (time pressure, role ambiguity, role conflict) on employee well-being and turnover intentions. The study also investigated the mediating role of employee well-being between job stressors and turnover intention based on the conservation of resources (COR) theory.

    METHODS: Data from 396 IT executives in Malaysian IT firms were analyzed using the Partial Least Squares - Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) technique.

    RESULTS: Results confirmed a significant negative correlation between time pressure (-0.296), role ambiguity (-0.423), role conflict (-0.104), and employee well-being. Similarly, employee well-being showed a significant negative relationship with turnover intentions (-0.410). The mediation analysis revealed that employee well-being mediates the relationship between time pressure (0.121), role ambiguity (0.173), role conflict (0.043), and turnover intentions.

    CONCLUSION: This paper aims to manifest the importance of designing employee well-being policies by firms to retain employees. Findings reflect the role of the managerial approach towards ensuring employee well-being for employee retention, thereby reducing recruitment and re-training costs.

  20. Liu Y, Han Y, Xiong L, Ma Q, Mei L, Chong MC, et al.
    Work, 2023 Jun 24.
    PMID: 37393480 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-230022
    BACKGROUND: Adaption to clinical work during the internship can induce several stressors among medical students, especially in the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Particularly, job stress could be linked to the development of psychological traits and the formation of the professional identity of medical interns.

    OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the relationship between job stress, psychological capital, and professional identity through a mediation analysis of Chinese medical interns.

    METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 30 hospitals and clinics in China from June 2021 to March 2022. A total of 665 medical interns filled out questionnaires related to demographic questions, psychological capital, job stress, and professional identity. Data analysis was executed using the IBM SPSS version 22.0 software and its add-in PROCESS Windows version 4.0.

    RESULTS: The findings indicated a statistically significant mediating effect of psychological capital between job stress and professional identity. Job stress and job stress combined with psychological capital accounted for 5.3% and 37.9%, respectively, of the variance in professional identity. The bootstrapping method corroborated the significance of the indirect effect of job stress through psychological capital (95% bootstrap CI = -4.7921, -2.4345).

    CONCLUSION: The current findings underscore the need for increased attention on improving the psychological capital of medical interns.

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