Folding the Pages of Computer History

Type 2 Diabetes in Aboriginal Peoples

Background: The economic status of women is now accepted as an indicator of a society’s development in Bangladesh. Women workers like the majority in the informal sector have been exposed to rigorous work, discipline, fixed working hours, specific production norms etc. The aim of the study was to perform cross-sectional study was conducted to assess nutritional status of female garment workers in Chattogram, Bangladesh. Methods: The study was conducted with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire to collect data from the respondents by face-to-face interview. Informed written consent was obtained from the respondents. A checklist containing height and weight (measured using measuring tape and digital weight machine respectively) of the respondents included in the questionnaire. Results: According to the study, gastrointestinal problem was reported by 49.7% and the rest reported problem were respiratory problem (35.3%), skin problem (27.3%), urinary problem (18%), eye problem (15%). Age, marital status, number of children, family member, monthly income, job section, working hours and overtime were significantly associated with various types of health problem. Respondents were categorized into underweight (≤18.5 kg/m2), normal (18.6-24.9 kg/m2) and overweight and above (≥25.0 kg/m2) using BMI. Prevalence of underweight, normal and overweight and above were 3.3%, 61.3% and 35.3% respectively. Conclusions: Female worker’s age, marital status, number of children, monthly income, job duration, job section and overtime showed significant association with their nutritional status (BMI). Findings of this study may play an important role to develop a policy and in commercial sector of our country to reduce health problem of the female garment workers for better productive and healthy lifestyle.

First Nations women's health 2023.

This chapter explores Native women’s quest for reproductive self-determination from the late 1960s through the early 1980s. The chapter documents Native women’s diverse attitudes toward and engagement with federal family planning services, while dedicating particular attention to growing concerns regarding unethical and even coercive sterilizations in the 1970s. Native nurses, community health representatives, and other activists struggled in various ways for women’s reproductive autonomy, collectively ensuring the centrality of reproduction to Red Power politics and the ongoing struggle for Native sovereignty. By the end of the decade, activist pressure resulted in the adoption of new federal regulations that provided some protections for Native and other women. Native women also founded grassroots organizations that pursued reproduction-related agendas such as a return to Native midwifery.

Letter to the editor: A clinician's perspective of the ‘unfortunate experiment’

The present study tries to find out the prevalence of health hazards among the female workers of the garment industry in Gazipur district, Bangladesh. This study focused on two sub-districts, Sreepur and Kaliakoir, of Gazipur district. Data for this study were collected from 100 female garment workers of Gazipur district. This study observes female workers in the industry consistently suffer from a range of physical health complexities such as headache, eye problem, hand pain and respiratory difficulties. This study also analyses the causes and measures to solve the health issues of female workers of the garment industry.

Leading the Nation in Women’s Health: The Important Role of Research

Prevention of Neural Tube Defects by Periconceptional Use of Folic Acid

The present study was conducted to assess the physical health status of female construction workers of Kathua District of JK along with skin rashes and lesions were also noted. Muscular pains and joint aches were also frequently noted. Nervous system problems reported included feeling of dizziness, fainting spells, headaches and cold sweats. There was also low to moderate incidence of fatigue and moderate to high incidence of illness among the sample females. Statistically there was significant difference in the physical health of the two age groups. Comparatively women in the 30-40 years age group faced more problems in eyes, nervous system, genitourinal system and encountered more incidence of illness than the younger age group. Overall, the results highlight the poor health condition of female construction workers.

The objective of this research was to compare the results of a recent study of the effects of VDT use on worker well-being with two other broad-based studies done previously in different areas of the United States. The populations sampled represent the millions of clerical and administrative workers whose jobs are being automated. The 140 clerical and administrative workers in the current study represent a sample of U.S. Navy civilian employees in the Washington, DC area. Our results found that: (1) there are a variety of health complaints associated with increased hours of VDT use; (2) more VDT users experience job boredom than non-users; (3) frequent users experience more work pressure and more control by management than occasional users. The authors confirm that VDT operators, especially those who use VDTs more than four hours a day, experience more stress than non-users.

As the technology advancement, we tend to work more using computer or another video display terminals (VDT). VDT usage often causes eyes problems (computer vision syndrome) or even refractive errors. This study aims to evaluate computer or VDT exposure as prognostic factor in myopia regression among young adults. Literature review method using medical journal is conducted through three databases (PubMed, Cochrane, and Ebsco). Keywords used are myopia, myopia progression, computer, and job (including their synonyms). Thirty-two articles were collected. Through title and abstract screening, filtering doubles, and exclusion, only three articles that can be critically appraised. Based on these articles, myopia progression proportion among the population is around 10,5% with myopia progression risk around −0,16 D annually. Myopia progression predictor factor is near work (along with computer and VDT usage). Myopia progression is related with near work notably computer usage. Thus, near work exposure should be decreased to prevent myopia progression.

Los desórdenes músculo esqueléticos inciden en las estadísticas de incapacidad laboral a nivel mundial, las empresas buscan evitar que estos desórdenes se presenten y también mitigar su impacto en la salud. Se presenta un programa de prevención de desórdenes músculo-esqueléticos en trabajadores que usan videoterminales en una caja de compensación familiar. Objetivo: Evaluar el riesgo ergonómico y diseñar un programa de prevención de desórdenes músculo-esqueléticos en trabajadores que usan videoterminales en una caja de compensación familiar. Métodos: Aplicación de encuesta sobre variables sociolaborales y evaluación de video terminales según la guía para la verificación ergonómica de puestos de trabajo a 63 trabajadores. Se uso de la metodología Sobane sobre la percepción del riesgo. Resultados: La presencia del tipo de dolor osteomuscular reportada fue: cervicalgia (n= 12), lumbalgia (n= 10), síndrome de túnel carpiano y dolor de manos (n= 8), otros problemas en miembros superiores y parestesias en miembros inferiores. En cuanto a la video terminal hubo mayores problemas ergonómicos con el ordenador y la mesa. La metodología Sobane expuso problemas con el espacio, mobiliario y participación del personal en las actividades. Conclusión: se propusieron acciones de prevención primaria, secundaria y terciaria a la población trabajadora para la prevención de desórdenes musculo-esqueléaticos por el uso de videoterminal, incluyendo aspectos individuales, colectivos y empresariales, además de evaluar las medidas de intervención aplicadas.

Ultrasound assessment of carpal tunnel syndrome

BackgroundThis study investigated the relationship between job type and the risk for spontaneous abortion to assess the reproductive toxicity of female workers in the semiconductor industry.MethodsA questionnaire survey was administered to current female workers of two semiconductor manufacturing plants in Korea. We included female workers who became pregnant at least 6 months after the start of their employment with the company. The pregnancy outcomes of 2,242 female workers who experienced 4,037 pregnancies were investigated. Personnel records were used to assign the subjects to one of three groups: fabrication process workers, packaging process workers, and clerical workers. To adjust for within-person correlations between pregnancies, a generalized estimating equation was used. The logistic regression analysis was limited to the first pregnancy after joining the company to satisfy the assumption of independence among pregnancies. Moreover, we stratified the analysis by time period (pregnancy in the years prior to 2008 vs. after 2009) to reflect differences in occupational exposure based on semiconductor production periods.ResultsThe risk for spontaneous abortion in female semiconductor workers was not significantly higher for fabrication and packaging process workers than for clerical workers. However, when we stratified by time period, the odds ratio for spontaneous abortion was significantly higher for packaging process workers who became pregnant prior to 2008 when compared with clerical workers (odds ratio: 2.21; 95% confidence interval: 1.01–4.81).ConclusionsWhen examining the pregnancies of female semiconductor workers that occurred prior to 2008, packaging process workers showed a significantly higher risk for spontaneous abortions than did clerical workers. The two semiconductor production periods in our study (prior to 2008 vs. after 2009) had different automated processes, chemical exposure levels, and working environments. Thus, the conditions prior to 2008 may have increased the risk for spontaneous abortions in packaging process workers in the semiconductor industry.

Corporate giants provide fertility benefits: have they got it wrong?