Male Office Workers Research Articles

Absence from work and physical fitness

<b>Lindén, V. (1969).</b><i>Brit. J. industr. Med.,</i><b>26,</b> 47-53. <b>Absence from work and physical fitness.</b> The distribution of sickness absence in a given population is not one of chance but is governed by the nature of the individuals making up the group. Earlier studies strongly suggested that an individual factor was operating. The present paper is concerned with the possible influence of a physical factor. Are those who repeatedly absent themselves from work less physically fit than those who do not, and are the former, in carrying out their work, overtaxing their respiratory and circulatory systems? Pilot studies were carried out on 203 employees from different occupations. Physical fitness was determined by measurement of the maximal oxygen uptake during performance of dynamic work. A bicycle ergometer of the mechanical braking type was used. For 51 customs officers, an inverse relationship between maximal oxygen uptake and number of absences from work was found. No such relationship was found for 56 firemen, which might have been expected because they form a selective group. So far as male and female office workers were concerned, no relationship was found between the maximal oxygen uptake and number of absences. Some morphological recordings were also made. No relationship was found between the data for height, weight or skinfold thickness and the maximal oxygen uptake or number of absences. Continuous, telemetric heart rate recording, which roughly indicates the level of oxygen uptake, was performed in 10 employees from different occupations during whole working days. Five were `repeaters9, <i>i.e.,</i> persons with many sickness absences for different and unrelated conditions, occupied with non-sedentary work. They were found to have much higher heart rate recordings than some of their fellow-workers used as controls. The former thus made higher demands on their vital systems than the latter, and they were physically overtaxed by their daily work. No investigation was made in this study with regard to the extent these men may be trained physically. Three were postmen who had been following that occupation for more than 20 years; they did not seem to benefit from the physical training apparently involved in their work. Repeaters having subnormal physical fitness will probably never be able to cope with strenuous physical work. Preventive measures such as physical training programmes should be taken early in their lives. Vocational guidance at the start of their working careers is also necessary.

Dermatitis caused by a copying paper.

Between October, 1956, and February, 1957, six male office workers, employed in the billing department of a large corporation, were seen, suffering from a rather severe dermatitis which was proven to be caused by Thermo-Fax paper, used in a Thermo-Fax Copying Machine. There was nothing remarkable about the dermatitis. There were eczematous vesicular and crusting patches on the dorsa of the hands and forearms in all patients, dermatitis of a contact type on the face and neck in the case of two of the patients, and a generalized toxic type of dermatitis in one of the patients. Patch tests were done with the usual office contactants, such as carbon paper, cleansers, and typewriter ribbon, and were also done with dry Thermo-Fax Copying Paper. All 48-hour tests were negative save that done with Thermo-Fax Copying Paper, and to this a vesiculation of the test site developed in from 6

Serum lipoproteins in preclinical and in manifest ischemic heart disease

1. 1. Of 115 middle-aged, white, male office workers, 76 were considered clinically free of ischemic heart disease, although 27 were obese, hypertensive, diabetic, or had a strong family history of heart disease. Of the remaining 48 men, 28 had survived a myocardial infarction and 20 had only angina pectoris. 2. 2. The survivors of myocardial infarction as a group showed significant increases in the lipoprotein-cholesterol and -phospholipid which were accounted for by increases in the β-lipoprotein fractions; there were also significant increases in the -S 1.21 flotation fractions above -S 1.211–10. The wide overlap of values in all groups nullified the individual diagnostic value of the measurements. 3. 3. The presently available techniques for measuring the blood lipoproteins are neither qualitatively nor quantitatively satisfactory indices of atherogenicity in a homogeneous population highly susceptible to ischemic heart disease.