MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done in Kuching, Sarawak, involving 173 randomly selected respondents among manufacturing factory workers. Data collected were respondents' workplace monitoring data and their audiometry records obtained from the factory record, and the otoscopy examinations performed. In addition, respondents were required to fill up an interviewer-guided questionnaire.
RESULTS: The prevalence of NIHL was high (49.7%). The factors which were found to have a significant association with NIHL in bivariate analysis were age (p < 0.05, 95% CI), male gender (p < 0.05; OR - 7.60; CI 3.34 -18.38), duration of employment (p <0.05), knowledge of noise level (p < 0.05; OR - 4.11; CI 1.10 - 15.28), working at polishing department (p < 0.05; OR - 4.23; CI 2.13 - 8.43), and smoking (p < 0.05; OR - 39.6; CI 16.5 - 94.8). Pack-years of smoking were also found to have a significant association with p < 0.05. However, only smoking was statistically significant in multivariate analysis, where the risk of developing NIHL was 27.55 (p < 0.005; CI 10.74 - 70.64) among smokers.
CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of NIHL despite the existing Hearing Conservation Program (HCP) may indicate that there may be some elements in HCP that require close monitoring by the factory management, and the importance of smoking cessation among the workers exposed to noise at the workplace should be highlighted.
METHODS: A multi-center cross-sectional study was conducted with 264 trainee doctors in Selangor, Malaysia. Eligible participants were provided with sociodemographic characteristics questionnaire, job characteristics questionnaire, WPB questionnaire, and the Big Five Inventory-10 (BFI-10). Chi-square tests were used to examine the association between: (i) sociodemographic characteristics and WPB, (ii) job characteristics and WPB; and (iii) personality traits and WPB. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to evaluate the association between the significant independent variables (as determined from Chi-square tests) and WPB.
RESULTS: The prevalence of WPB was 45.1 %, with verbal abuse being the most common form of bullying (46.2 %). Chi-square test showed that only marital status and low agreeableness were significantly associated with WPB. Subsequently, multiple logistic regression demonstrated that being married (OR: 1.866; 95 % CI: 1.077-3.234) and low agreeableness (OR: 2.287; 95 % CI: 1.169-4.473) were significant predictors of WPB.
CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of WPB among trainee doctors could be attributed by marriage and low agreeableness personality traits in this population. In order to minimise WPB and maximise workforce potential, it is essential for healthcare institutions and medical training programmes to recognise this vulnerabilities and take steps to protect and support trainee doctors who are married and/or with low agreeableness personality trait.