Manual Jobs Research Articles

Frequency, Causes and Medico-Legal Aspects of Grievous Injury to the Eye after Physical Assault

Aims: A medicolegal report is prepared by the medicolegal officer in conjunction with an ophthalmologist in cases of physical assault claiming vision loss. The objective was to report the frequency and cause of grievous injury to the eye after a physical assault. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study, conducted in the Department of Ophthalmology of a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan from October 2019 to August 2022. A total of 378 medicolegal cases were reported in the ophthalmology outpatient. Among them, 285 patients of physical assault were included with consecutive sampling technique. Results: The mean age of the patients was 33.93±12.96 years. The mean reporting time to an ophthalmologist was 4.1±8.2 days. Simple and grievous injuries were found in 278 (97.5%) and 7 (2.4%) cases, respectively. Among the grievous injuries, 4 (57.2%) were close globe injuries and 3 (42.8%) were open globe injuries. Thirteen (4.5%) were malingers. Domestic violence was observed in 82 (28.8%) study subjects. Conclusion: The frequency of grievous injury to the eye is very low (2.4%) in patients with physical assault. The patients of assault-related grievous injury were mostly males, young age, low level of education, and doing manual jobs. Vitrolage with corneal melting, and firearm injury caused the grievous injury in open globe patterns. Vitreous hemorrhage, retinal detachment, macular hole, and secondary glaucoma were seen among close globe patterns. J Bangladesh Coll Phys Surg 2024; 42: 336-341

The Impact of AI Tools on Employment Trends and Skill Demands

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing our work, lifestyles, and modes of communication. The integration of AI-driven technologies brings about automation of tedious tasks, enhances decision-making capabilities, and boosts overall productivity. Nonetheless, the adoption of AI carries profound implications for both the labor market and skill prerequisites. On one hand, the advent of AI is poised to usher in new job opportunities, particularly in domains such as machine learning, data science, and AI engineering. Conversely, AI's implementation is expected to automate numerous routine and manual job functions, resulting in the displacement of workers in sectors like manufacturing, transportation, and customer service. This transition underscores the necessity for workers to cultivate fresh skill sets and competencies. Skills such as data analysis, critical thinking, and advanced problem-solving will ascend in importance, whereas conventional proficiencies like manual dexterity and routine problem-solving will diminish in relevance. Furthermore, the effects of AI on employment prospects and skill requisites will vary across different industries and geographical regions. While certain sectors may undergo substantial job displacement, others may witness a surge in demand for adept personnel. Thus, policymakers and industry leaders must adopt a proactive stance toward reskilling and upskilling initiatives to ensure workforce competitiveness. Ultimately, the integration of AI tools is poised to catalyze transformative shifts in the labor market and skill landscape. While it presents novel opportunities and enhances productivity, it simultaneously necessitates adaptive measures from workers to thrive in an evolving job market.

Access to community-based eye services in Meru, Kenya: a cross-sectional equity analysis

BackgroundOver 80% of blindness in Kenya is due to curable or preventable causes and 7.5 m Kenyans currently need eye services. Embedding sociodemographic data collection into screening programmes could help identify the groups facing systematic barriers to care. We aimed to determine the sociodemographic characteristics that were associated with access among patients diagnosed with an eye problem and referred for treatment in the Vision Impact Programme, currently operating in Meru County.MethodWe used an embedded, pragmatic, cross-sectional design. A list of sociodemographic questions was developed with input from key stakeholders. The final question set included the following domains: age, gender, religion, marital status, disability, education, occupation, income, housing, assets, and health insurance. These were integrated into an app that is used to screen, refer, and check-in (register) participants within a major eye screening programme. We gathered data from 4,240 people who screened positive and were referred to their local outreach treatment clinic. We used logistic regression to identify which groups were facing the greatest barriers to accessing care.ResultsA quarter of those screened between April – July 2023 were found to have an eye problem and were referred, however only 46% of these people were able to access care. In our fully adjusted model, at the 0.05 level there were no statistically significant differences in the odds of attendance within the domains of disability, health insurance, housing, income, or religion. Strong evidence (p < 0.001) was found of an association between access and age, gender, and occupation; with males, younger adults, and those working in sales, services and manual jobs the least likely to receive care.ConclusionsAccess to essential eye services is low and unequal in Meru, with less than a third of those aged 18–44 receiving the care they need. Future work should explore the specific barriers faced by this group.

Association of Working Status with Clinical Pregnancy and Miscarriage among Women undergoing In Vitro Fertilization: Single-Centre Cross-Sectional Study.

Middle-aged working women represent most patients attending fertility clinics for in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. In this study, we aimed to identify the association of women's working status with clinical pregnancy and miscarriage in the first trimester after IVF treatment. In this single-centre cross-sectional study at a private clinic in Kazakhstan, we reviewed electronic medical records of all IVF with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and fresh embryo transfer (ET) cycles from January 2018 to December 2019 (n=654). 300 cycles in patients with normal ovarian reserve and registered working status of a female partner in the medical records were selected for the analysis. The study's primary outcome measures were clinical pregnancy rates and clinical miscarriage in the first trimester. 204 women were employed, while 96 were not employed before the start of treatment. The mean age of all patients was 32.2 ± 4.8 years, ranging from 23 to 46 years. Two-thirds of working women had office-based occupations employed as doctors, school and university teachers, accountants, clerks, and managers. One-third of the study participants had manual labor jobs, including service positions and plant workers. There was no association between women's working status and clinical pregnancy rate adjusted for age, antral follicle count, history of pelvic adhesiolysis, and embryo development stage at embryo transfer. However, working women had almost five times the risk of the first trimester miscarriage compared to non-working women [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 4.56, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.52 to 4.96] adjusted for age and number of retrieved oocytes. Women who work before commencing IVF treatment can be reassured of having equal chances of conception following the treatment compared to non-working women. The observed risk of first trimester miscarriage in working women necessitates further research before drawing any conclusions from medical and public health points.

Factors associated with vaccine hesitancy against COVID-19 among adults in Europe: a descriptive study analysis applying socio-ecological framework

ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore the factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Europe among adults by using the Socio-Ecological Model.ResultsThis cross-sectional study used secondary data collected from respondents residing in 27 EU countries at the time of May 2021. The outcome was vaccine hesitancy against COVID-19, and the total sample size of 23,606 was analysed by binary logistic regression, as well as McKelvey and Zavonoia’s R2. After adding each level of variables, the model found the significant and increased association with vaccine hesitancy in younger age groups (21–39 years and 40–60 years vs. 65 years+), who left full-time education at a young age (16–19 years), those with manual jobs, those with children at home, individuals residing in small towns, and beliefs related to the vaccine. Together, the levels explained 49.5% of the variance associated with vaccine hesitancy, and the addition to each variable layer increased the variance. This highlights the need to consider broad factors at multiple levels to enhance vaccine acceptance and uptake.

TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION: THE EMERGING TRENDS IN EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS AMONG ENGINEERING GRADUATES: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

We are living in a fast-paced competitive world where new technologies are being introduced almost every day, trends are evolving, manual jobs are becoming obsolete, and new tech jobs are on the rise. Technology has eased its way into our lives, it has given rise to uncertainty. The rapid changes in the technologies have also transformed the need for in-demand skills in the industries. In addition, newer domains are emerging in the market and this is fuelling the demand for talent with the required skills that are capable of driving the organizational growth. Organizations and educational institutes need to cater to the requirements of the industry for upcoming generations and lay foundations for devising solutions that support rapid skill development. Industry 4.0 was in the recent past in 2011, its focus was on digitalization and included automation, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, connected devices, data analytics, cyber-physical systems, digital transformation, and more., India needs to invest in constant upskilling of human resources and stay agile. Industry 5.0, seems to have already set in, 2020. The focus is personalization and humanization, emphasizing collaboration between humans and machines to create sustainable products and services and to deliver value-added tasks to customers. Hence, it is essential for us to keep learning and constantly upskill ourselves. The importance of upskilling for leaders by stating, When a person stops learning, they start falling behind. Therefore, we must learn new skills in such uncertain times to adapt to rising jobs in the era of industrial transformation. Over the past few years, the world is experiencing rapid changes in every sector. New employment avenues have opened and due to this, the demand for tech-savvy new-age skills has also grown. Keeping this in view this article is focus on to study the emerging trends in reskilling, upskilling and capacity building programmes. KEY WORDS: Uncertainty, Technological Transformation, Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics, Digital Transformation, Upskilling, Reskilling, Capacity Building.

The causal effect of two occupational factors on osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis: a Mendelian randomization study.

Osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are two common types of arthritis. We conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study to estimate the causal effects of two common occupational factors-job involves heavy manual or physical work and job involves mainly walking or standing-on OA and RA in individuals of European ancestry. Instruments were chosen from genome-wide association studies (GWASs) that identified independent single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) robustly linked to job involves heavy manual or physical work (N = 263,615) as well as job involves mainly walking or standing (N = 263,556). Summary statistics for OA and RA were taken from the Integrative Epidemiology Unit (IEU) GWAS database; both discovery and replication GWAS datasets were considered. The primary analysis utilized the inverse variance weighted (IVW) MR method supplemented by various sensitivity MR analyses. In the IVW model, we found that genetically predicted job involves heavy manual or physical work was significantly associated with OA in both the discovery [odds ratio (OR) = 1.034, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.016-1.053, P = 2.257 × 10-4] and replication (OR = 1.857, 95% CI: 1.223-2.822, P = 0.004) analyses. The causal associations were supported in diverse sensitivity analyses. MR analyses suggested no causal effect of genetically predicted job involves heavy manual or physical work on RA. Similarly, our data provided no evidence that genetically predicted job involves mainly walking or standing was related to OA and RA. Our MR study suggests that job involves heavy manual or physical work is a risk factor for OA. It is of utmost importance to create preventive strategies aimed at reducing its impact on OA at such work sites.

Industrial practitioner's perception on the application of exoskeleton system in automotive assembly industries: A Malaysian case study

The automotive industry is a key manufacturing industry for the Malaysian economy, where manual jobs and task are still common. Hence, Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSD) is a common type of injury among workers. Exoskeleton system has gained global traction as a possible solution to reduce the risk of MSD among workers. Nonetheless, the application of exoskeleton in the automotive industry in Malaysia remains unknown. As such, this study attempts to provide insight into the industry's perception on the potential of exoskeleton application within the context of Malaysian automotive assembly sector. Therefore, a total of 52 management level respondents from various manufacturers participated in this study. It is found that, although the technology seems to be relatively new and disruptive, the respondents have a positive perception towards it with an acceptance rate of 86.5%. Cost of implementation exoskeleton technologies seems to be primary concern from the respondents, other concern such as maintenance cost and ease of application into existing application is also highlighted.

Women’s Involvement Pattern in Grain Management Activities in Deoghar District of Jharkhand

Post-harvest losses in India posed a significant challenge, resulting in food wastage, reduced income for farmers, and increased pressure on resources. In the context of agriculture and food security, women played a crucial role in post-harvest operations, performing tasks such as cleaning, sorting, drying, storage, processing, and marketing of agricultural products. The study was conducted in the year 2023 with a sample of 120 randomly selected farmwomen in the Deoghar district of Jharkhand. The study aimed to recognize the involvement pattern of farm women in various post-harvest activities in rural areas. The findings indicated major participation of farm women was in activities like the sowing of seeds (67.5%), decision-making regarding pre-storage treatment (66.7%), drying of threshed grains (60.8%), mid-storage/intermediate treatment of grains (60.8%) and drying before threshing (49.2%) etc. The study also highlighted various drying and storing related practices carried out by farm women like sun drying of grains, threshing of major cereal crops by beating etc. which were mostly manual job required heavy physical energy.

Factors influencing maternal death in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam countries: A systematic review.

A maternal mortality ratio is a sensitive indicator when comparing the overall maternal health between countries and its very high figure indicates the failure of maternal healthcare efforts. Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam-CLMV countries are the low-income countries of the South-East Asia region where their maternal mortality ratios are disproportionately high. This systematic review aimed to summarize all possible factors influencing maternal mortality in CLMV countries. This systematic review applied "The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Checklist (2020)", Three key phrases: "Maternal Mortality and Health Outcome", "Maternal Healthcare Interventions" and "CLMV Countries" were used for the literature search. 75 full-text papers were systematically selected from three databases (PubMed, Google Scholar and Hinari). Two stages of data analysis were descriptive analysis of the general information of the included papers and qualitative analysis of key findings. Poor family income, illiteracy, low education levels, living in poor households, and agricultural and unskilled manual job types of mothers contributed to insufficient antenatal care. Maternal factors like non-marital status and sex-associated work were highly associated with induced abortions while being rural women, ethnic minorities, poor maternal knowledge and attitudes, certain social and cultural beliefs and husbands' influences directly contributed to the limitations of maternal healthcare services. Maternal factors that made more contributions to poor maternal healthcare outcomes included lower quintiles of wealth index, maternal smoking and drinking behaviours, early and elderly age at marriage, over 35 years pregnancies, unfavourable birth history, gender-based violence experiences, multigravida and higher parity. Higher unmet needs and lower demands for maternal healthcare services occurred among women living far from healthcare facilities. Regarding the maternal healthcare workforce, the quality and number of healthcare providers, the development of healthcare infrastructures and human resource management policy appeared to be arguable. Concerning maternal healthcare service use, the provisions of mobile and outreach maternal healthcare services were inconvenient and limited. Low utilization rates were due to several supply-side constraints. The results will advance knowledge about maternal healthcare and mortality and provide a valuable summary to policymakers for developing policies and strategies promoting high-quality maternal healthcare.

Zone I Revision Finger Amputations Performed in the Emergency Department Compared With Those Performed in the Operating Room.

Finger amputations are commonly encountered. These may be revised in the emergency department (ED) or the operating room (OR). Previous studies have demonstrated the cost-effectiveness associated with procedures performed in the ED. Patient outcomes have not been described. We retrospectively reviewed patients who presented to our level 1 trauma center with a traumatic partial or complete finger amputation through flexor tendon zone I. All were treated with revision amputation performed in either the ED or the OR between January 2012 and December 2017. A total of 172 patient charts were included. Ninety-three of the revision amputations were performed in the ED, while 79 were performed in the OR. There was no difference in age, race, sex, having a manual labor job, medical comorbidities, or mechanism of injury between the groups. Compared with procedures performed in the ED, procedures performed in the OR had a higher rate of delayed healing, a longer stay in the hospital, and a higher referral to therapy postoperatively. Length of follow-up and number of follow-up visits were not statistically different based on location of procedure. There was no difference in post-procedural infection rate or need for revision procedure between the groups. Our data support the efficacy of performing revision amputation procedures in the ED. Recorded patient complications and subsequent treatment after revision amputations performed in the ED vs the OR were comparable. Those performed in the ED potentially decrease the burden placed on the patient and the health care system. [Orthopedics. 2024;47(3):152-156.].

Rural and urban differences in lifetime occupation and its influence on mortality among Mexican adults.

To determine how primary lifetime occupation type is associated with mortality, and how the relationship varies by rural and urban dwelling. Data come from 2001-2018 Mexican Health and Aging Study (adults aged 50+, n=11 094). We created five occupation categories. Cox proportional hazard models predicted mortality using baseline covariates. In both rural and urban settings, participants with manual jobs, such as agriculture and production/industrial jobs, had an increased risk of mortality compared to those with administrative/professional jobs. In urban settings, participants in the domestic/service and no main job categories had higher risk of mortality than those in the administrative/professional category. For men these differences remained, but not for women. In a context of rural and urban demographic shifts, it is crucial to consider the implications that occupation as a socioeconomic factor can have on health and to identify the most vulnerable groups.

Differential trends in prolonged sitting time in Europe: a multilevel analysis of European Eurobarometer data from 2013 to 2022

Abstract Aim Sitting time is a modifiable risk factor for morbidity and mortality. However, only a few studies have examined how prolonged sitting time has changed over time. Thus, we examined time trends in prolonged sitting time and how trends differ according to sociodemographic groups (age, gender, region, education, income, occupation). Subject and methods We used data from three population-based Eurobarometer surveys conducted in 2013, 2017 and 2022, comprising responses from N = 73448 participants aged 15 years and older from 26 European countries. Multilevel logistic regression models were applied. Results We found differential trends in the odds of prolonged sitting time over the study period. Sitting time significantly increased among middle-aged participants (21-65 years; OR = 1.14, 95%-CI = [1.07; 1.22]), decreased among adolescents (15-20 years; OR = 0.74, 95%-CI = [0.62; 0.88]), and remained relatively stable for older adults (66+ years; OR = 0.94, 95%-CI = [0.84; 1.06]). Furthermore, the increases in middle-aged adults were most strongly observed in those with manual jobs (OR = 1.36, 95%-CI = [1.16; 1.60]) those unemployed (OR = 2.36, 95%-CI = [1.92; 2.89]), and those with income difficulties (e.g., OR = 1.72, 95%-CI = [1.40; 2.11]). Conclusion Thus, trends in sitting time in Europe are differential and not homogeneous: Prolonged sitting time has decreased or remained stable in some subgroups and increased in others. Especially middle-aged participants with a lower socioeconomic status showed increasing prolonged sitting times over the study period. Tailored interventions are needed to target most at-risk groups.

E62 Paediatric rheumatology cases at department of physical medicine/rheumatology Victoria hospital over nine years

Abstract Introduction Victoria Hospital is a centrally located public hospital in Mauritius with a catchment area attaining around 500 000 people. Paediatric rheumatic cases refer to rheumatic diseases occurring in children below the age of 16. Till date there is no official data on the number of paediatric rheumatic cases seen at Victoria hospital. Objective To study paediatric rheumatic cases seen and followed up over a period of nine years at Victoria Hospital Mauritius. Methods This is a retrospective study conducted in the department of Physical Medicine/Rheumatology. Data was extracted from files of patients below age of 16 following treatment over the last 9 years (December 2013 till December 2022). Basic information on age, gender, family situation, were noted. Clinical information on diagnosis, treatment and outcomes were also noted. Data was processed using IBM SPSS. Results A total of 18 children are being followed by our department since the last 9 years and they had been seen by 3 different rheumatologists. 13 patients (72.2%) were referred internally either through Paediatrics or Unsorted Outpatient units, and 5 patients (27.7%) were referred from private hospitals. The ratio of male to female was 1:5. The mean age of onset of symptoms was 9.7 ± 4.75 years, mean age at which a diagnosis was made was 10.7 ± 4.50 years, and the mean age at which patients were referred to our department was 11.1 ± 4.45 years. The mean diagnostic delay is one year. Four cases are adults now. 9 cases (50%) are being followed for Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) of which 7 (38.9%) had polyarticular JIA (pJIA) and 2 (11.1%) had systemic JIA (sJIA). Paediatric Systemic Lupus Erythematosus accounted for 5 cases (27.8%), 1(5.6%) had Juvenile Dermatomyositis , 1 (5.6%) had Juvenile Fibromyalgia, 1(5.6%) had Psoriatic Arthritis and 1 (5.6%) had Rheumatic Fever. 36.8% of children have single parents and 44.4% of parents did manual jobs. Social status of parents statistically correlate with disease conditions (P &amp;lt; 0.001). Nine (50%) patients were on methotrexate, 8 (44.4%) of JIA were treated with biological DMARDs (bDMARDs), 4 of them achieved remission and has stopped bDMARDs and 4 of them are on maintenance dose for remission. Tocilizumab was the mostly used bDMARDs 5 (62.5%), followed by rituximab 2 (25%); other bDMARDs used were infliximab 1 (12.5%) and adalimumab 1 (12.5%). Uveitis was seen in one of the patients with JIA and is being managed with infliximab. Two patients (one systemic JIA and one SLE) have hip joint involvement. The SLE case has developed osteonecrosis of hip joints. patients (55.5%) are in remission at present, 4 (22.2%) in partial remission, 3 (16.7%) still having repeated flares and one has physical impairment. Discussion This is the first published set of data on Paediatric Rheumatology cases at Victoria Hospital. A diagnostic delay of around one year is noted. 34.5% of children live with single parents and hence might not have received the care and support as required. Furthermore, the cases seen could only be part of the tip of the iceberg as patients are often lost in between paediatric and rheumatology units. Paediatric Lupus patients remain challenging to manage. Conclusion This is the first report of published data on paediatrics rheumatic disease from Victoria Hospital in Mauritius. We need more collaborative data from other centres to work out the prevalence and incidence of paediatric rheumatic diseases in our country. Efforts must be made to shorten diagnostic delay and referral time.

E20 Factors associated with school and work impairment in patients with Juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Abstract Background Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common arthropathy of childhood. It is frequently associated with chronic pain and physical disability. Moreover, it can persist over many years and can lead to disability and dysfunction in adulthood. Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the factors associated with school or work absenteeism and poor school functioning in patients with JIA. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study including patients with JIA according to the International League of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR). Sociodemographic data as well as disease characteristics were collected from patient’s medical records. A detailed questionnaire was completed for each participant by interviewing them about their school level and their educational and work performance. The rate of absenteeism due to health complications was noted. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 11.5. A P-value cut-off of 0,05 to determine significance was fixed. Results We studied 31 JIA patients. There were 11 males (35.5%) and 20 females (64.5%). The mean age of participants was 28.6 years [9–45]. The mean age at onset was 6.65 years [2–13]. The mean disease duration was 256.5 months [36–444]. The distribution of the different subtypes in patients was as follows: RF-positive polyarthritis (n = 10), oligoarthritis (n = 7), RF-negative polyarthritis (n = 6), Enthesitis-related arthritis (n = 4) and systemic arthritis (n = 4). Nineteen patients were receiving corticosteroids. Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs were used by 18 patients: methotrexate (n = 11), sulfasalazine (n = 3), leflunomide (n = 4) and biologics (n = 13). Twelve patients developed complications: coxitis (n = 11), growth retardation (n = 9) and uveitis (n = 4). Joint replacement was required in 7cases. The mean DAS28 ESR was 2.71 [0.76–5.23] and the mean CHAQ was 0.85 [0–2.30]. The mean number of tender and swollen joints was 0.45[0–8] and 0.29 [0–5] respectively. The mean amount of CRP and ESR was respectively 12.71 mg/l [0–91] and 21.23 mm/h[0–84]. Seven patients were illiterate (26.9%), 11 had dropped out of school (42.3%). Twenty-two patients (70.9%) reported repeated absences due to illness. A year of schooling was repeated by 43.6% of patients. Fourteen out of 26 patients over the age of 20 attended university. Almost 77% of patients were exempted of physical education. Among the adult patients, 10 had an intellectual job (38.4%), 12 had a manual job (46.1%) and 4 were unemployed (15.3%). A total of 37% of the schooled patients and 18.4% of adult patients missed 2 weeks or more of school or work during the past year. A total of 26.3% of the patients had poor school functioning. A significant association was found between absenteeism and tender joints (P = 0.044). However, there were no significant association between the school-related problems, the socio-demographic characteristics and the other parameters of clinical and biological activity studied. Conclusion Our study suggested that JIA negatively affected patients schooling and adults work performances. Therefore, proper management of these patients is important to increase their academic and professional performance.

Obesity represents a persisting health issue in axial spondyloarthritis, particularly affecting socially disadvantaged patients.

Obesity is an important comorbidity in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). However, the prevalence of obesity in axSpA compared with the general population and associated socioeconomic factors remain unknown. This repeated cross-sectional study compared BMI groups of patients with axSpA to the Swiss population at three time points (2007, 2012 and 2017). BMI categories were compared by different age, sex, and education categories using the Chi-Squared Goodness of Fit test. Unpaired, one-sided t-tests were used to compare the BMI in axSpA patients between the different time points. Compared to the general population, axSpA patients had a higher proportion of overweight and obese: 18.9% of all axSpA patients were obese, compared to 11.3% of the Swiss population in 2017. Comparison of BMI groups within sex, age and education groups consistently showed a trend towards higher rates of overweight and obesity in axSpA. Furthermore, axSpA patients, especially females, showed a trend of increasing BMI over the studied 10 years. At every time point, overweight and obese patients were significantly more likely to be male, were older and had higher disease activity than patients with normal weight. Obesity was associated with a deprived socioeconomic status as indicated by a higher proportion of patients with manual labor jobs and lower levels of education. The prevalence of obesity was significantly higher among patients with axSpA compared to the Swiss population, with socially disadvantaged individuals being the most affected. There is an urgent need to initiate prevention strategies for obesity in axSpA patients.

Learning human-process interaction in manual manufacturing job shops through indoor positioning systems

Nowadays, manufacturing systems are increasingly embracing the Industry 4.0 paradigm. Therefore, manual and low-standardized manufacturing environments are often digitized through Industrial Internet of Things technologies to quantitatively assess and investigate the role of the human factor from multiple points of view. This approach is commonly known as Operator 4.0. In such a scenario, this manuscript proposes an original digital architecture to monitor the efficiency and the social sustainability of labor-intensive manufacturing job shops. While the anonymous spatio-temporal trajectories of tagged workers are acquired through an ultrawide band radio network, machine learning algorithms autonomously detect the human-process interactions with strategic industrial entities upon developing industrial key performing indicators. The proposed architecture is tested and validated in a real manual manufacturing system. In detail, the performing accuracies of the machine learning-based software provide industrial plant supervisors with several production metrics to identify the hidden weaknesses and bottlenecks of the monitored manufacturing system. Such digital assessment may trigger a re-organization of the considered process to, for instance, enhance the allocation of the material in storage areas while fairly re-balancing the distances traveled by workers for picking activities.

Effect of osteoarthritis and its surgical treatment on patients’ quality of life: a longitudinal study

BackgroundOsteoarthritis (OA) is one of the primary causes of pain and disability worldwide leading to patients having some of the worst health-related quality of life (QOL). The purpose of our study was to investigate the progression of the generic and disease-specific QOL of osteoarthritic patients going through total hip or knee replacement surgery and the factors that might alter the effect of surgery on QOL.MethodsA longitudinal study was performed based on data collected from 120 OA patients who filled in the short version of the WHO’s generic measure of quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) and the disease-specific Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) before and after surgery.ResultsDomains related to physical health status showed relatively lower scores in patients before surgery. Patients reported a significant increase of QOL after surgery in the WHOQOL-BREF physical domain, especially if they were from the younger group (< 65 years, p = 0.022) or had a manual job (p = 0.008). Disease-specific QOL outcome results indicate that overall patients gained significantly better QOL in all domains of the WOMAC score. Patients with hip OA seemed to have the most benefit of their operation as they reported better outcome in WOMAC pain (p = 0.019), stiffness (p = 0.010), physical function domains (p = 0.011) and total score (p = 0.007) compared to knee OA patients.ConclusionThere was a statistically significant improvement in all domains concerning physical functions in the study population. Patients also reported significant improvement in the social relationship domain, which indicates that OA itself as well as its management might have a profound effect on patients’ life beyond the reduction of their pain.

Demographic and radiographic factors for knee symptoms and range of motion in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a cross-sectional study in Beijing, China

BackgroundKnee osteoarthritis (KOA) causes not only pain, stiffness, and dysfunction of the knee, but also the reduction of the joint range of motion (ROM). This study explored the demographic and radiographic factors for knee symptoms and ROM in patients with symptomatic KOA.MethodsThe demographic variables, Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade, and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) of patients with symptomatic KOA recruited in Beijing were collected. The knee ROM of all patients were also measured. We analyzed the influencing factors for WOMAC and ROM using a generalize linear model, respectively.ResultsThis study included a total of 2034 patients with symptomatic KOA, including 530 males (26.1%) and 1504 females (73.0%), with a mean age of 59.17 (± 10.22) years. Patients with advanced age, overweight or obesity, a family history of KOA, a moderate-to-heavy manual labor job and use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) had significantly higher WOMAC and lower ROM (all P < 0.05). The more the comorbidities, the higher the WOMAC (all P < 0.05). Patients with higher education had better ROM than those with only an elementary education(β = 4.905, P < 0.05). Compared with those KL = 0/1, the WOMAC of patients whose KL = 4 were higher (β = 0.069, P < 0.05), but the WOMAC of those KL = 2 were lower (β = -0.068, P < 0.05). ROM decreased with the increase of KL grade (all P < 0.05).ConclusionsKOA patients with advanced age, overweight or obesity, a family history of KOA in first-degree relatives, a moderate-to-heavy manual labor job tended to have more severe clinical symptoms and worse ROM. Patients with more severe imaging lesions tend to have poorer ROM. Symptom management measures and regular ROM screening should be taken early to these people.

Embracing robots in our lives [Editorial

Robotics has the power to change our lives by transforming manual jobs to autonomous ones, with increased economic growth and productivity. You may recall the surprising appearance of Sophia, the most advanced humanoid robot, which fluently interacted with people in 2016. We are eagerly waiting for Elon Musk’s Optimus to be available in 2027, a new humanoid robot that could be part of our everyday lives. NASA’s Robonaut 2 (or R2) was flown to the space station as part of STS-133 mission. A robot cooker is capable of large-scale, fully automatic cooking. In fact, robots are coming to our lives with applications in space missions, underwater exploration, agriculture and the food industry, medicine and health care, industrial automation and manufacturing, security, entertainment, search and rescue, and education. Robotics is a multidisciplinary and exciting research field that crosscuts computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, material science, etc.