Occupational Survey Research Articles

The relationship between occupational socialization factors and in-service physical educators’ reported use of sport education

Extensive empirical evidence exists for how Sport Education (SE: Siedentop et al., 2020) can deliver valued student educational outcomes, yet there remains a dearth of knowledge of how in-service teachers implement the model in practice. The purpose of this study was to examine how the stages of occupational socialization predicted teachers’ reported implementation of the structural features of SE. An SE use and occupational socialization survey was developed and completed by 65 experienced teachers who had received training on using SE during their undergraduate physical education teacher education program. Respondents reported three versions of SE implementation: (a) full, (b) modified, and (c) light, with the majority of teachers reporting using either a full or modified version of SE. Professional socialization (physical education teacher education programming) was the only significant predictor of teachers’ model use. The SE features typically implemented were formal competition, team affiliation, and seasons. The more student-centered features of student roles, record keeping, and a culminating event were less frequently used during practice. Professional socialization remains the most powerful predicted on in-service teachers’ use of SE during their professional practice. Physical education teacher education programs are encouraged to explore methods to facilitate pre-service teachers’ learning of how to implement the student-centered features of SE, as this learning will likely translate into pedagogical practice in schools.

Workplace gender harassment, illegitimate tasks, and poor mental health: Hypothesized associations in a Swedish cohort

Workers exposed to gender harassment and illegitimate tasks may experience adverse mental health outcomes such as depression and burnout. However, the longitudinal effects and the complex interrelationships between these variables remain largely unexplored. We investigated the cross-lagged relationships between gender harassment, illegitimate tasks, and mental health outcomes among working adults in Sweden over a period of two years, as well as the gender differences in the cross-lagged effects. Additionally, the study examined whether illegitimate tasks mediated the relationship between gender harassment and negative mental health outcomes over time. Data were drawn from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH), covering 2796 working men and 4110 working women in a two-wave analysis from 2018 to 2020. We employed a structural equation model to examine the cross-lagged effects and the mediating effect between gender harassment, illegitimate tasks, and mental health outcomes over time. Furthermore, we applied a multigroup analysis to determine gender differences in the cross-lagged effects.The results showed statistically significant cross-lagged relationships (forward, reverse, and reciprocal) between gender harassment, illegitimate tasks, and mental ill-health. There were statistically significant gender differences in these cross-lagged relationships (burnout: △χ2(47)=106.21, p < 0.01; depression: △χ2(47)=80.5, p < 0.01). Initial illegitimate tasks mediated the relationship between gender harassment and mental ill-health outcomes over time. The gender differences in the interrelationships between gender harassment, illegitimate tasks, and mental ill-health outcomes among workers in Sweden indicate that policies, regulations, and interventions that address these exposures in organisations must be tailored to benefit both men and women.

Distance to sports facilities and low frequency of exercise and obesity: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundLittle research has investigated the associations between proximity to physical activity facilities and behavior-related health and the majority have focused on proximity from home address. We add to the literature by examining proximity of these facilities to work and home address and including a wide range of physical activity facilities. We assess the associations for proximity of physical activity facilities from home and work address with self-reported frequency of exercise and obesity.MethodsOur analytical sample of 7358 participants was from the 2018 wave of the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health. We used logistic binomial regression adjusting for age, sex, education, civil status, individual socioeconomic status, neighborhood socioeconomic status, number of children under 12 years of age, work strain, and chronic disease.ResultsLonger distance from home to paid outdoor and paid indoor physical activity facilities was associated with low frequency of exercise (fully adjusted Relative Risk for both 1.01, 95% CI 1.01–1.02). Associations of any or free outdoor facility with low frequency of exercise were not robust. Findings also indicated associations between long distance from workplace to any and paid outdoor facility and low frequency of exercise. Results for obesity were in the similar direction, however, these were not statistically significant.ConclusionIncreased distance of paid outdoor and paid indoor physical activity facilities from home and of paid outdoor facilities from work was associated with low frequency of exercise. Longitudinal and larger studies are needed to confirm our findings, particularly regarding obesity.

A multi-aspect approach to energy retrofitting under global warming: A case of a multi-apartment building in Montenegro

Global warming will seriously affect buildings, and the Montenegrin building stock is no exception. Since the country is one of the most inefficient energy users in Europe, improving the energy efficiency of buildings is essential. Therefore, the study implemented a novel multi-aspect approach to energy retrofitting, linking building thermal performance, occupant interaction and climate change. A representative existing multi-apartment building in Podgorica was selected, and a survey among occupants was conducted to identify their satisfaction with indoor thermal comfort and to evaluate the acceptability of the proposed energy retrofit measures. Next, the thermal performance of the building was simulated under current and future climate conditions. Finally, a comprehensive parametric analysis was performed by applying different retrofit scenarios. The selected retrofit measures were evaluated based on their impact on energy efficiency and occupant acceptability. The results showed that the most impactful retrofit measure would be thermally insulating the building envelope, followed by a lower shading set-point and natural ventilation cooling. Applying the best retrofit combinations would reduce the total energy demand by 75% under the current climate and by 66% and 59% at the end of the 21st century under the RCP4.5 or RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively. However, the occupant survey results disclosed that beyond thermally insulating the building, occupants have limited awareness about the potential of energy retrofit actions, while summer thermal discomfort is the dominant issue. Therefore, building energy retrofit and climate adaptability actions should also address occupant views.

Environmental and socio-psychological drivers of building users’ behaviours: a case study of tertiary institutional offices in Auckland

PurposeBetter identification of comfort preferences and occupant behaviour drivers is expected to improve buildings’ user-centred designs and energy operations. To understand the underline drivers of occupant behaviours in office buildings, this study aims to evaluate the inter-relationships among occupant energy behaviours, indoor environmental quality satisfaction, user control and social-psychological factors influencing occupant behaviours in New Zealand offices.Design/methodology/approachUsing an occupant perception survey, this study identifies the occupant behaviour patterns based on multi-domain comfort preferences. A case study was conducted in five office spaces of a university in Auckland, New Zealand. Data were collected from 52 occupants and analysed using descriptive and binary logistic regression analysis. Indoor environmental quality, user control, motivational, opportunity and ability factors were the independent variables considered. A model to predict the behaviours using environmental, building and social-psychological aspects was developed.FindingsThe results showed that the primary sources of indoor environmental quality discomfort were related to thermal and air quality, while occupants’ indoor environmental quality satisfaction correlated with their comfort preferences. The outcomes emphasise how the connection between building systems and occupants’ comfort preferences affect the choice of occupant behaviours in offices. Also, the primary occupant behaviours were drinking hot and cold beverages, opening/closing windows and internal doors and adjusting clothing. The binary logistic regression analysis showed that occupants’ perceived user control satisfaction is the main driver for increasing window actions. No other independent variable showed a statistically significant association with other behaviours.Originality/valueThis study adopted a novel approach to assess the combined effects of comfort preferences, occupant energy behaviours and various environmental, building and socio-psychological factors for modelling energy-saving behaviours in office buildings.

What can occupancy models gain from time-to-detection data?

The time taken to detect a species during site occupancy surveys contains information about the observation process. Accounting for the observation process leads to better inference about site occupancy. We explore the gain in efficiency that can be obtained from time-to-detection (TTD) data and show that this model type has a significant benefit for estimating the parameters related to detection intensity. However, for estimating occupancy probability parameters, the efficiency improvement is generally very minor. To explore whether TTD data could add valuable information when detection intensities vary between sites and surveys, we developed a mixed exponential TTD occupancy model. This new model can simultaneously estimate the detection intensity and aggregation parameters when the number of detectable individuals at the site follows a negative binomial distribution. We found that this model provided a much better description of the occupancy patterns than conventional detection/nondetection methods among 63 bird species data from the Karoo region of South Africa. Ignoring the heterogeneity of detection intensity in the TTD model generally yielded a negative bias in the estimated occupancy probability. Using simulations, we briefly explore study design trade offs between numbers of sites and surveys for different occupancy modeling strategies.

Living and working close to sports facilities and physical inactivity and obesity: a cross-sectional study

Background: The majority of previous studies on the associations between proximity of physical activity facilities and behavior-related health have focused on proximity from home address, while studies on proximity from work address are scarce. We add to the literature by investigating associations for proximity of these facilities to work and home address and including different types of physical activity facilities. Methods: Aim was to assess the associations of proximity of physical activity facilities from home and work address with self-reported physical inactivity and obesity. The analytical sample of 7358 participants was from the 2018 wave of the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health. Log-binomial regression was used for analyses. Covariates included age, sex, education, civil status, individual and neighborhood socioeconomic status, number of children under 12 years of age, work strain, and chronic disease. Results: We observed that longer distance from home to the nearest paid outdoor physical activity facility was associated with physical inactivity (fully adjusted Relative Risk 1.08, 95% CI 1.00-1.16). However, associations of any, free outdoor or paid indoor facility with physical inactivity were not robust for covariate adjustments. There were associations between long distance from workplace to the nearest any, outdoor, free outdoor and paid outdoor facility and physical inactivity in age and sex adjusted models, however, associations were not robust to full adjustments. Results for obesity were in the same direction as for physical inactivity, however, these were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Proximity Longer distance to paid outdoor physical activity facility from home was associated with physical inactivity. There was an indication that proximity to work address could be an additional determinant of physical activity behavior and obesity, however, longitudinal and larger studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Narrative modelling: A comparison of high and low mass dwelling solutions in Afghanistan and Peru

Displaced populations are housed in various constructions, including lightweight predesigned structures. Theoretically, self-built heavyweight structures should ensure better temperatures and be closer to cultural norms. To examine this directly for the first time, lightweight pre-designed solutions are compared with high-mass self-built alternatives in Afghanistan and Peru, via monitoring, dynamic simulation, occupant surveys, the Shelter Assessment Matrix (SAM) and ShelTherm. Lightweight solutions increase peak summer temperatures, but only by 2°C, but reduce minimum temperatures by up to 5°C. Simulations only provided a qualitatively similar time series to the monitoring, because identical homes showed a large variance in temperatures. This questions the benefit of simulation compared to approaches which concentrate on whether shelters exacerbate or ameliorate external temperatures. In addition, a dwelling provides more than comfort, it supports family life, which is best addressed by tools like SAM, not thermal simulation. Hence it might be ideal to recommend high-mass self-build if possible, and to focus modelling efforts on qualitative aspects of simulation time-series, such as whether the building suppresses or exacerbates external conditions, and equally on psycho-cultural aspects. The term narrative modelling is introduced to describe this new approach which will be of direct benefit to the humanitarian community. Building simulation engineers have much to offer the humanitarian shelter sector, however they are not often brought into play in a disaster. Hence, we suggest a practical role they can take is in examining strategies before disasters and in creating knowledge or analysis methods that aid agency staff can apply on the ground. Here we showcase this approach. It is clear that although dynamic thermal simulation is highly useful, psycho-social aspects are equally important, thus engineers are likely to need to use tools that consider such aspects in order to maximize the usefulness of their conclusions.

Exposure to work-related violence and/or threats of violence as a predictor of certified sickness absence due to mental disorders: a prospective cohort study of 16,339 Swedish men and women in paid work

ObjectivesThe aim of this prospective cohort study was to investigate if exposure to work-related violence and/or threats of violence predict certified sickness absence due to mental disorders.MethodsInformation on work-related exposure to violence and/or threats of violence were derived from the biannual Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH) study 2012–2016, including individuals in paid work across Sweden and from different occupations/sectors (n = 16,339). Certified sickness absence due to mental disorders were ascertained from register data from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. Odds ratios of certified sickness absence due to mental disorders according to exposure to work-related violence were estimated using multiple logistic regression. Several potential confounding variables, such as demographic and socio-economic factors, age, sex, cohabitation, children living at home, socio-economic status, educational level, as well as other types of psychosocial work environmental factors, were adjusted for in the analyses.ResultsIn the total study sample, 9% reported exposure to violence and/or threats of violence and the prevalence of sickness absence due to mental disorders was 5%. Exposure to work-related violence and/or threats of violence was associated prospectively with certified sickness absence due to mental disorders (odds ratio 1.46, 95% confidence interval 1.17–1.82, p < 0.01). Analysis of possible interaction showed no difference in association when comparing women to men and different age groups.ConclusionsExposure to work-related violence and/or threats of violence appear to increase the odds of certified sickness absence due to mental disorders. Preventive measures aiming to lower the risk of exposure is thus of great importance.

A field study on indoor environmental quality and energy savings of an office building integrated with underfloor air conditioning system in India

This study aimed to examine the real-time indoor environmental quality (IEQ) factors in an office space environment with a dedicated underfloor air conditioning system. Nevertheless, underfloor air distribution (UFAD) system buildings in India do not have reliable studies to record the impact of occupant perception and IEQ factors. This study was conducted in the UFAD office building during the peak monsoon period of 16th – 25th October 2019 in a warm and humid climate region of Mumbai, India. IEQ factors of indoor thermal, air quality, lighting, and noise comfort were examined using an occupant questionnaire survey for sensation, preference and overall acceptability, as well as physical measurements. Furthermore, energy consumption and energy utilization coefficient were determined at different room set-point temperatures. Four hundred and thirty-five responses were collected during the field study. The comfort zone temperature was obtained between 22.24–25.3 °C with near-zero (±0.5) tolerance range. Moreover, 80-95% of the occupants felt comfortable and acceptable within the thermal environment of the room set-point at 22-25 °C. Results showed that the real-time IEQ score was perceived between 0.663-0.846. The real-time IEQ score can be used as a building management strategy that simultaneously improves thermal comfort and indoor air quality.

과학고 졸업생의 대학 전공과 대학 졸업 후 진로 분석

This study analyzed science high school graduates’ college major and career choice after college graduation using five waves of Graduates Occupational Mobility Survey of Korea Employment Information Service. The findings indicated that 92 percent of 510 science high school graduates chose engineering and natural science major in college, whereas about 3 percent of them chose medical or pharmaceutical school. After college graduation, about 60 percent of science high school graduates entered a graduate school majoring in engineering and natural science, while 45 percent of the comparison group did. This finding confirms science high school graduates are more likely to become advanced engineers and scientists than graduates from general high school. Also, the proportion of science high school graduates who re-entered medical school or entered medical professional school at graduate level was higher than the comparison group. Therefore, about 13 percent of science high school graduates made a career choice in the medical or pharmaceutical field. Finally, we divided science high school graduates’ career choices after college graduation into four categories: engineering or natural science graduate school, medical/pharmaceutical school, other graduate school, and no graduate school, and compared characteristics of each groups, based on which we suggested implications.

The Status of Occupational Stress and Its Influence on the Health of Medical Staff in Lanzhou, China.

This study aimed to understand the status quo of occupational stress and its impact on the health of medical staff and provide a theoretical basis for relieving occupational stress and improving the health status of medical staff. The occupational stress and health status of medical staff in 14 hospitals in Lanzhou were studied using a general questionnaire, Effort–Reward Imbalance questionnaire, and Self-Rated Health Measurement Scale. A total of 2169 participants were included in the analysis, and 59.4% of the medical staff experienced occupational stress. The results of the occupational stress survey showed that the prevalence of occupational stress among medical staff aged 40–50, with a master’s degree or above, senior professional title, working for 10–20 years, and working more than 48 h per week was higher than in the other groups. The health survey results showed that, compared with other groups, the scores of physical, mental, and social health were lower in medical staff with working years of 10–20 years and working hours of more than 48 h per week. The results show that working years and working hours per week affect not only the level of occupational stress but also physiological, psychological, and social health.

Access to Alcohol Outlets From Home and Work in Sweden: Longitudinal Associations With Problem Drinking.

The association of proximity of alcohol outlets to the workplace with problem drinking has not been previously studied. We examined longitudinal associations of living and working in proximity to alcohol outlets with problem drinking. The data consisted of 13,306 employed respondents to the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health between 2012 and 2018. Road distances from the respondents' home and workplace to the nearest liquor outlet, beer outlet, and bar were calculated by Statistics Sweden. We used distance variables both as categorized, to indicate changes in distance, and as continuous variables. Self-reported problem drinking was assessed using modified Cut-Annoyed-Guilty-Eye (CAGE) questions. Binomial logistic regression with generalized estimating equation was used to examine the associations. A decrease (vs. remained unchanged) in the distance from home to a liquor outlet was associated with a higher likelihood of problem drinking (odds ratio = 1.21, 95% confidence interval [1.02, 1.45]). A protective association for problem drinking was observed when the distance from home to a beer outlet increased (vs. remained unchanged) (0.65 [0.44, 0.95]). A decrease (vs. remained unchanged) in the distance from work to a bar was also associated with a higher likelihood of problem drinking (1.37 [1.00, 1.88]). The likelihood of problem drinking was increased also per 1-km decrease in distance from home to liquor outlets (1.01 [1.00, 1.02]), risk estimates being higher for women than for men. Alcohol outlet proximity to the workplace could be an additional determinant of harmful alcohol consumption behavior. Reducing the number of on- and off-premise alcohol outlets could reduce the level of harmful alcohol consumption.

Myometrial progesterone receptor determines a transcription program for uterine remodeling and contractions during pregnancy.

The uterine myometrium expands and maintains contractile quiescence before parturition. While the steroid hormone progesterone blocks labor, the role of progesterone signaling in myometrial expansion remains elusive. This study investigated the myometrial functions of the progesterone receptor, PGR. Pgr ablation in mouse smooth muscle leads to subfertility, oviductal embryo retention, and impaired myometrial adaptation to pregnancy. While gross morphology between mutant and control uteri are comparable, mutant uteri manifest a decrease of 76.6% oxytocin-stimulated contractility in a pseudopregnant context with a reduced expression of intracellular calcium homeostasis genes including Pde5a and Plcb4. At mid-pregnancy, the mutant myometrium exhibits discontinuous myofibers and disarrayed extracellular matrix at the conceptus site. Transcriptome of the mutant mid-pregnant uterine wall manifests altered muscle and extracellular matrix profiles and resembles that of late-pregnancy control tissues. A survey of PGR occupancy, H3K27ac histone marks, and chromatin looping annotates cis-acting elements that may direct gene expression of mid-pregnancy uteri for uterine remodeling. Further analyses suggest that major muscle and matrix regulators Myocd and Ccn2 and smooth muscle building block genes are PGR direct downstream targets. Cataloging enhancers that are topologically associated with progesterone downstream genes reveals distinctive patterns of transcription factor binding motifs in groups of enhancers and identifies potential regulatory partners of PGR outside its occupying sites. Finally, conserved correlations are found between estimated PGR activities and RNA abundance of downstream muscle and matrix genes in human myometrial tissues. In summary, PGR is pivotal to direct the molecular program for the uterus to remodel and support pregnancy.

Incorporating motivation and execution into healthy building rating systems based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB)

Although healthy building rating systems include health strategies in the building design and management, they insufficiently consider occupants' motivations to engage in and the execution of health strategies. This study aims 1) to classify the design and management strategies of healthy building rating systems according to occupants’ subjective motivations and objective execution and 2) to optimize healthy building rating systems by applying the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Based on a survey of occupants in WELL certified buildings and the related analysis using structural equation models (SEMs), it was found that attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control all had significant positive effects on the health-related behaviours of office workers. Management tools were more effective than design tools in implementing healthy building strategies. Spatial planning design strategies had the most evident intervention effect on personnel engaging in healthy behaviours, while the intelligent automation category had a negative effect on behaviour intentions. This research provides suggestions for optimizing the relevant rating systems of building assessment standards by discussing the typical characteristics of occupants and strategies to promote their engagement in healthy behaviours.

사업장 위험요소 존재와 산업재해 발생의 관련성에 관한 연구

In this study, focusing on the 'Focused on the 9th Occupational Safety and Health Survey Data', the existence of risk factors in the workplace and the relevance of the occurrence of industrial accidents are confirmed, and based on this, the existence of risk factors is identified in advance and safety and health management measures to reduce occupational accidents. It was carried out for the purpose of use as basic data for establishment. Among the raw data of ‘Focused on the 9th Occupational Safety and Health Survey Data’, 5,108 workplaces were selected for final analysis. The data are divided by industry, and the size of the workplace (number of workers), the occurrence of industrial accidents (as of 2017), mental/psychological, chemical substances, physical, ergonomics, presence of dangerous machinery/equipment, and the presence or absence of risk factors for work in hazardous places are 6 Statistical analysis was performed using the items. As a result, the occurrence of industrial accidents by industry was highest in the construction industry, manufacturing industry, and service industry. In the manufacturing and service industries, the larger the workplace, the higher the occurrence of industrial accidents, and in the construction industry, the occurrence of workplaces with 100 or more workers was higher. In the relationship between companies, in the manufacturing and service industries, the occurrence of industrial accidents among in-house subcontractors of the prime contractor was high, and in the construction industry, the occurrence of industrial accidents was high in the workplaces other than the principal and subcontractors. As for the presence of risk factors in the workplace, the presence of hazardous machinery and equipment risk factors in the manufacturing industry, mental and psychological risk factors in the service industry, and the presence of risk factors in dangerous places in the construction industry were found to be the highest. difference in existence. Occupational accidents were found to be highly correlated when risk factors were present. Through this study, it was confirmed that the relationship between the business type, size, and company of the workplace is related to the occurrence of industrial accidents. In addition, although the presence of risk factors in the workplace is highly related to the occurrence of industrial accidents, there are differences according to the industry. The safety and health system of the workplace should be established after identifying the characteristics of the workplace and the existence of risk factors in advance, and improvement and countermeasures should be prepared by identifying harmful risk factors through the search for accidents occurring at the workplace and discovering potential risk factors.

Study Protocol and Preliminary Results of the Impact of Occupational Health Workers' Activities on Their Health: Nationwide Prospective Internet-Based Survey.

BackgroundOwing to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, work environments and systems, as well as occupational health measures or activities that fall within our research field, are constantly changing. It is necessary to assess the impact of these changes on the physical and mental health of workers.ObjectiveTo assess how occupational health measures affect the health of workers, we conducted a baseline, longitudinal internet-based survey among Japanese workers in October 2021 and additionally scheduled 2 follow-up surveys for 2022 and 2023. We describe the details of the protocol of the work systems and health internet research (WSHIR) study, provide an overview of the results of the baseline survey, and discuss the study procedures and data used in the study.MethodsThis prospective cohort study was conducted online among internet monitors. The baseline survey was conducted from October 1 to 7, 2021. This study targeted those who were working and between the ages of 20 and 69 years. A total of 5111 respondents who passed the screening survey and proceeded to the main survey were enrolled according to collection units organized by sex and age. For the screening and main surveys, the questionnaire consisted of 9 and 33 items with 9 and 55 questions, respectively. Consistency and completeness checks were performed after the questionnaires were submitted. We compared basic characteristics, such as sex, age group, educational background, and marital status, among all participants, including those who withdrew from the analysis.ResultsOf the 5111 initial survey respondents, 571 (11.2%) were considered fraudulent. The data of the remaining 4540 (88.8%) participants (2273, 50.1%, males; 2267, 49.9%, females) included in the analysis were well balanced across participant sex and age groups according to the sampling plan because there was no significant difference by sex and age group using the chi-square test for checking the distribution bias of the participants (P=.84). Compared to female participants, male participants tended to be more likely to be managers and supervisors (323, 14.2%, males; 86, 3.8%, females), to work in a secondary industry (742, 32.6%, males; 357, 15.7%, females), and to have an annual income of ≥5 million yen (976, 42.9%, males; 429, 18.9%, females). For the evaluation of a psychological indicator, Kessler 6 (K6) score, by sex and age group, the characteristics of the score distribution of the included participants were similar to those reported in previous studies.ConclusionsThis study presents a protocol and overview of the results of an internet-based occupational health survey of workers. Using the results of this survey, we hope to evaluate the changes in occupational health activities and their impact on workers' health while controlling for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overview of dental assistants in Taiwan from 2009 to 2021

Background/purposeThe development of dental assistants in Taiwan has been over a century. This study explored mainly the profile of dental assistants and the occupation survey about them in Taiwan from 2009 to 2021.Materials and methodsThis study used the documentary analysis and secondary data analysis to survey mainly the changes of manpower of dental assistants in Taiwan from 2009 to 2021, and the association of their wages with economic indicators.ResultsAccording to occupation survey from government, the number of dental assistants increased from 4315 in 2009–7909 in 2021. When estimated based on the data of the United States showing 1.86 dental assistants per dentist, the estimated number of dental assistants increased from 21,113 in 2009 to 28,698 in 2020. Although the mean monthly wage of dental assistants increased from 22,127 NT dollars in 2009 to 26,795 NT dollars in 2021, the proportion of the mean annual wage of dental assistants to the gross domestic product per capita decreased from 47.43% in 2009 to 34.78% in 2021. Moreover, the proportion of the mean monthly wage of dental assistants to the basic monthly wage of labor decreased from 128.05% in 2009 to 111.65% in 2021.ConclusionIn Taiwan, although the manpower and work content of dental assistants are important for dentists, they usually work with a low wage from 2009 to 2021. It is imperative to continue to promote the certification system for dental assistants to improve the professionalism and the wage structure of this occupation.

Work-Life Enrichment and Interference Among Swedish Workers: Trends From 2016 Until the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered workers' possibilities to combine work and private life. Work and private life could either interfere with each other, that is, when conflicting demands arise, or enrich, that is, when the two roles are beneficial to one another. Analyzing data from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health through individual growth models, we investigated time trends of interference and enrichment between work and private life from 2016 through March to September 2020, which is during the first wave of the pandemic. The sample included workers who had remained in the same workplace throughout the study period and worked at least 30% of full time, reaching 5,465 individuals. In addition, we examined trends in level of interference and enrichment across gender and industries. Results showed that Life-to-work interference increased over time in the Swedish working population, but neither did work-to-life interference nor enrichment. We observed only marginal differences across gender. Also, in the industries of fine manufacturing and real-estate activities, a decrease in interference, work-to-life interference, and life-to-work interference, respectively, was observed. In the human health and social care industry, an increase in interference and life-to-work interference was seen. Our conclusion is that overall changes to the possibilities to balance work and private life have occurred for workers in Sweden during the first period of the pandemic. Further studies are needed to study development time trends throughout the pandemic and across different occupations.

The Implication of Physically Demanding and Hazardous Work on Retirement Timing.

The need to retain individuals longer in the workforce is acknowledged in many high-income countries. The present study therefore aimed to examine the importance of physically demanding work tasks (PDWT) and physically hazardous work environment (PHWE) in relation to retirement timing among pensionable workers (≥61 years). A particular question was whether PDWT and PHWE increased in importance with age. Six waves (2008–2018) of the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH) were used (n = 5201; 56% women and 44% men; mean age at first survey was 61.0 (SD 2.0) years). Discrete time-event history analysis, stratified by socioeconomic position and gender, showed that among blue-collar workers, PDWT and PHWE were associated with an increased likelihood of retiring within the next two years. With increasing age, high-level PHWE was associated with higher probability of retiring among blue-collar men, whereas heavy PDWT was associated with lower probability of retiring among blue-collar women. Among white-collar workers, having at least some PDWT compared to no PDWT was associated with a lower likelihood of retiring within the next two years. With increasing age, exposure to PHWE was associated with higher probability of retiring among white-collar women. These results suggest that to delay retirements, organizations could offer their older employees, especially blue-collar workers and the oldest white-collar women, alternatives to PDWT and PHWE.