Effect of overtime work on cognitive function in automotive workers

Mental fatigue, work and sleep

OBJECTIVE

The study examined the multivariate relationship between mental fatigue and different work-related (work load, work hours) and background/life style factors, as well as disturbed sleep.

METHODS

A total of 5720 healthy employed men and women living in the greater Stockholm area participated in a questionnaire study on cardiovascular risk factors. The data were analysed using a multiple logistic regression analysis with self-rated fatigue as the dependent variable.

RESULTS

Fatigue was predicted by disturbed sleep (4.31; 3.50-5.45, high immersion in work (4.17; 2.93-5.94), high work demands (2.39; 1.54-3.69), social support, being a female, being a supervisor and high age. Shift work, work hours (including overtime) and influence at work did not become significant predictors. With control for work demands a high number of work hours was associated with lower fatigue.

CONCLUSION

Disturbed sleep is an important predictor of fatigue, apparently stronger than previously well-established predictors such as work load, female gender, lack of exercise, etc.

Recovery, work engagement, and proactive behavior: a new look at the interface between nonwork and work

This study examined work-related outcomes of recovery during leisure time. A total of 147 employees completed a questionnaire and a daily survey over a period of 5 consecutive work days. Multilevel analyses showed that day-level recovery was positively related to day-level work engagement and day-level proactive behavior (personal initiative, pursuit of learning) during the subsequent work day. The data suggest considerable daily fluctuations in behavior and attitudes at work, with evidence that these are related to prior experience and opportunity for recovery in the nonwork domain.

[Stress management in manufacturing industries]

Job strain factors and stress management for workers in the manufacturing industries were reviewed in this article. Major job stress factors included high job demands, low job control, low social support, role ambiguity and conflict, the physical, chemical and ergonomics of the work environment, work patterns with work schedule and shift work, and job insecurity regarding future employment. In considering effective stress management plans which counteract the job stress factors mentioned above, it is essential to use an organizational approach in the work environment. For workers in the manufacturing industry, through this approach, it is important to promote more autonomy and activities with increasing job control, to give more clarified roles and responsibilities, to provide a more mutually supportive system with better ways to communicate and to introduce a system giving additional rewards, such as paid holidays for refreshment. Plans are also needed for individuals and groups, such as workers, managers, supervisors and workgroups, regarding education, skill training and mutual training according to the personnel characteristics of each target. In order to make these stress management plans successful in the long term, an actual system for stress management is required, with recognition and support by top management. It is also important to assess the effectiveness and method of each stress management plan with proper measurements.

The "Goldilocks model" of overtime in construction: not too much, not too little, but just right

PROBLEM

Little research exists on the relationship between working overtime and possible adverse health and safety outcomes for construction workers.

METHOD

Five focus-group discussions were conducted with construction workers from around the United States. From the analyzed transcripts, a model of overtime was developed.

RESULTS

The model includes three dominant themes: (1) work organization issues [(a) definitions of overtime, (b) scheduling, and (c) economic conditions], (2) why workers choose to work overtime [(a) management expectations, (b) career, and (c) money], and (3) the effects of working overtime [(a) health and safety, including sleep deprivation, injury, fatigue, and stress, and (b) productivity].

DISCUSSION

Health and safety is only one of the adverse outcomes related to working too much overtime. A list of worker-inspired recommendations for addressing overtime issues is provided.

IMPACT ON THE INDUSTRY

Both employers and workers need to better understand the potential adverse effects of working too much overtime.

Automatic stride interval extraction from long, highly variable and noisy gait timing signals

This paper presents a probabilistic algorithm for automatically extracting the stride interval time series from long, highly variable and noisy two-state timing signals. Long interstride temporal records are of particular interest in nonlinear dynamical analysis of gait. The proposed method consists of probabilistic estimation and extraction followed by post-extraction filtering. With noisy timing signals from 10 children with Spastic Diplegia, no statistical differences in the numbers of extracted strides (p=0.94), the mean stride intervals (p=0.55) and the scaling exponents (p=0.94) (a measure of temporal heterogeneity) were found between series extracted by hand and by the probabilistic algorithm. The method is robust to noise and violations of normality. Results support the use of probabilistic extraction as an alternative to laborious manual extraction.

Neuropsychologische Frührehabilitation

Zusammenfassung: Die neurologische Frührehabilitation hat im letzten Jahrzehnt stark an Bedeutung gewonnen. In diesem Artikel wird ein neuropsychologisches Behandlungskonzept für Patienten mit schwersten Bewusstseinsstörungen (Wachkoma, akinetischer Mutismus, stuporartige Antriebsstörung und Somnolenz) zur Diskussion gestellt. Schwerpunkt des Konzepts ist eine Konzentration auf die Handlungsebene und eine Interpretation der Syndrome als schwere Form der Negativsymptomatik, während die übliche Einordnung als Aufmerksamkeitsstörung in Frage gestellt wird. Die für die einzelnen Syndrome vorhandene Literatur zu neuroanatomischen Ursachen, zu neuropsychologischen Modellvorstellungen und zu funktionellen bzw. pharmakologischen Behandlungsansätzen wird jeweils kurz dargestellt und es werden daraus spezifische neuropsychologische Therapievorschläge abgeleitet. Aus der Analyse folgt, dass die Neuropsychologie einen wesentlichen Beitrag zur Behandlung dieser schwerst beeinträchtigten Patienten der Phase B der neurologischen Rehabilitation leisten könnte, bis heute aber kaum empirische Daten über die Wirksamkeit vorliegen.

Long working hours and risk for hypertension in Japanese male white collar workers

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the association of long working hours with the risk for hypertension.

DESIGN

A five year prospective cohort study.

SETTING

Work site in Osaka, Japan.

PARTICIPANTS

941 hypertension free Japanese male white collar workers aged 35-54 years were prospectively examined by serial annual health examinations. Men in whom borderline hypertension and hypertension were found during repeated surveys were defined as incidental cases of borderline hypertension and hypertension.

MAIN RESULTS

336 and 88 men developed hypertension above the borderline level and definite hypertension during the 3940 and 4531 person years, respectively. After controlling for potential predictors of hypertension, the relative risk for hypertension above the borderline level, compared with those who worked < 8.0 hours per day, was 0.63 (95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.43, 0.91) for those who worked 10.0-10.9 hours per day and 0.48 (95% CI: 0.31, 0.74) for those who worked > or = 11.0 hours per day. The relative risk for definite hypertension, compared with those who worked < 8.0 hours per day, was 0.33 (95% CI: 0.11, 0.95) for those who worked > or = 11.0 hours per day. The multivariate adjusted slopes of diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) during five years of follow up decreased as working hours per day increased. From the multiple regression analyses, working hours per day remained as an independent negative factor for the slopes of systolic blood pressure, DBP, and MABP.

CONCLUSIONS

These results indicate that long working hours are negatively associated with the risk for hypertension in Japanese male white collar workers.