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- Johansson, Ewa-Lena, et al.
(author)
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Small and large airway reactions to osmotic stimuli in asthma and chronic idiopathic cough
- 2018
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In: Pulmonary Pharmacology & Therapeutics. - : Elsevier BV. - 1094-5539. ; 49, s. 112-118
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Chronic cough is a common symptom and related to several pulmonary, airway and heart diseases. When all likely medical explanations for the coughing are excluded, there remains a large group of patients with chronic coughing, which is mostly a cough reflex easily triggered by environmental irritants and noxious stimuli. The main aim of this study was to improve the diagnostic ability to differentiate chronic idiopathic cough (CIC) from asthma. Methods: Twenty-three patients with CIC, 16 patients with mild asthma and 21 control participants were included. The study consisted of three randomised bronchial provocations with osmotic stimuli: mannitol, eucapnic dry air and hypertonic saline. At each provocation lung function was assessed by spirometry and impulse oscillometry (IOS). Results: In a comparison of the groups, while the FEV1 measurements did not differ, the CIC group had increased airway resistance and reactance after provocation with hypertonic saline compared to the control subjects. After mannitol provocation the patients with asthma had significantly increased airway resistance compared to the controls and from eucapnic dry air provocations these patients had a significant reduction in spirometry values and increased airway resistance compared to both the patients with CIC and the controls. Conclusion: The asthma group reacted in a predictable way with impaired lung function from osmotic provocations, whereas the patients with CIC demonstrated peripheral airway changes from hypertonic saline, also known to be a noxious stimulus. The IOS method uncovers differences between patients with CIC and control participants that contribute to our ability to provide a correct diagnosis.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Gustafsson, Ewa, 1955, et al.
(author)
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Texting on mobile phones and musculoskeletal disorders in young adults: A five-year cohort study
- 2017
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In: Applied Ergonomics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0003-6870. ; 58, s. 208-214
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim was to examine whether texting on a mobile phone is a risk factor for musculoskeletal disorders in the neck and upper extremities in a population of young adults.In a longitudinal population-based cohort study with Swedish young adults (aged 20-24 years) data were collected via a web-based questionnaire at baseline (n = 7092) and after one and five years. Cross-sectional associations were found between text messaging and reported ongoing symptoms in neck and upper extremities (odds ratios, ORs 1.3-2.0). Among symptom-free at baseline prospective associations were only found between text messaging and new cases of reported symptoms in the hand/fingers (OR 2.0) at one year follow up. Among those with symptoms at baseline prospective associations were found between text messaging and maintained pain in neck/upper back (OR 1.6). The results imply mostly short-term effects, and to a lesser extent, long-term effects on musculoskeletal disorders in neck and upper extremities. © 2016 The Authors.
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| 4. |
- Gustafsson, Ewa, 1955, et al.
(author)
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Texting with touchscreen and keypad phones - A comparison of thumb kinematics, upper limb muscle activity, exertion, discomfort, and performance
- 2018
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In: Applied Ergonomics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0003-6870. ; 70, s. 232-239
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study aimed to compare thumb kinematics and upper limb muscle activity, and the influence of hand size, when texting on a keypad smartphone and a touchscreen smartphone. Furthermore, the study compared exertion, discomfort, and performance when texting on the two phones. The thumb kinematics were tracked using a 3D motion analysis system and muscle activity was registered in six upper limb muscles using surface electromyography in 19 participants. When texting on the touchscreen phone compared to the keypad phone thumb flexion (p = 0.008) and flexion/extension range of motion were smaller (p = 0.02), the thumb was on average less internally rotated (p = 0.02), and activity (50th and 90th percentile) of the thumb and forearm muscles was lower (p ≤ 0.05). The differences in thumb flexion were found only in the group with shorter hands and the differences in muscle activity was found only in the group with longer hands. These findings suggest there are differences in risks for developing musculoskeletal disorders during smartphone use with different key activation mechanisms and different hand sizes. © 2018 The Authors
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| 5. |
- Jonker, D., et al.
(author)
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Health surveillance under adverse ergonomics conditions – validity of a screening method adapted for the occupational health service
- 2015
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In: Ergonomics. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0014-0139 .- 1366-5847. ; 58:9, s. 1519-1528
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A new health surveillance protocol for work-related upper-extremity musculoskeletal disorders has been validated by comparing the results with a reference protocol. The studied protocol, Health Surveillance in Adverse Ergonomics Conditions (HECO), is a new version of the reference protocol modified for application in the Occupational Health Service (OHS). The HECO protocol contains both a screening part and a diagnosing part. Sixty-three employees were examined. The screening in HECO did not miss any diagnosis found when using the reference protocol, but in comparison to the reference protocol considerable time savings could be achieved. Fair to good agreement between the protocols was obtained for one or more diagnoses in neck/shoulders (86%, k=0.62) and elbow/hands (84%, k=0.49). Therefore, the results obtained using the HECO protocol can be compared with a reference material collected with the reference protocol, and thus provide information of the magnitude of disorders in an examined work group. Practitioner Summary: The HECO protocol is a relatively simple physical examination protocol for identification of musculoskeletal disorders in the neck and upper extremities. The protocol is a reliable and cost-effective tool for the OHS to use for occupational health surveillance in order to detect workplaces at high risk for developing musculoskeletal disorders. © 2015 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis.
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| 6. |
- Oliv, Stefan, et al.
(author)
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A Lower Level of Physically Demanding Work Is Associated with Excellent Work Ability in Men and Women with Neck Pain in Different Age Groups
- 2017
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In: SH@W Safety and Health at Work. - : Elsevier BV. - 2093-7911 .- 2093-7997. ; 8:4, s. 356-363
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- © 2017 The Authors. Background: The aim of this study was to investigate which physical and psychosocial work demands were associated with excellent work ability in individuals with neck pain, and to investigate age and sex differences in these associations. Methods: The study sample was obtained from the Statistics Sweden cross-sectional Work Environment survey and consisted of workers who reported neck pain after work (N = 3,212). Results: The findings showed an association between excellent work ability and self-reported low exposure to lifting, twisted work posture, working with hands in shoulder level or higher, and leaning forward without support and combination of exposures containing these work demands. Low exposure to seated work and high demands showed a reversed association. The associations were present mainly among older workers and were generally stronger for men than for women. Conclusion: This study indicates that a lower level of physically demanding work is an important element to maintain excellent work ability, especially for the older worker with neck pain.
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| 7. |
- Oliv, Stefan, et al.
(author)
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Important work demands for reducing sickness absence among workers with neck or upper back pain: a prospective cohort study
- 2019
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In: BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2474. ; 20:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background The aim of this study was to investigate what exposure to work demands, physical and psychosocial, is associated with lower levels of sickness absence among workers with neck or upper back pain in different groups, by age, gender, duration of sickness absence and work ability score. Methods This study was a prospective study of 4567 workers with neck or upper back pain. Data on neck or upper back pain, work demand and work ability were obtained from the Swedish Work Environment survey over a 3-year period (2009-2013). Register data on sickness absence, 1 year after each survey was conducted, were obtained from the Swedish health insurance database. Analyses were performed to estimate the association between self-reported work demands and registered sick days > 14 days. The analyses were stratified for gender, age group and work ability score. Results Lower numbers of sick days were found for workers reporting low exposure to lifting >= 15 kg and twisted or forward-leaning work postures. Lower numbers of sick days were found for workers reporting high work control and seated work. The associations were generally stronger in the older age groups for the physical work demands. Conclusions The findings in this study suggest that certain physical work demands and having high control over one's work can result in lower sickness absence, especially among middle-aged and older workers with neck or upper back pain.
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| 8. |
- Oliv, Stefan, et al.
(author)
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The Quick Exposure Check (QEC) - Inter-rater reliability in total score and individual items
- 2019
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In: Applied Ergonomics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0003-6870. ; 76, s. 32-37
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The development of musculoskeletal disorders has been linked to various risk factors in the work environment including lifting heavy loads, machine and materials handling, work postures, repetitive work, work with handheld vibrating tools, and work stress. The Quick Exposure Check (QEC) was designed to assess exposure to work-related musculoskeletal risk factors affecting the back, shoulder/arm, wrist/hand, and neck. We investigated the inter-rater reliability of the summary scores and individual items of the QEC by comparing two simultaneous assessments of 51 work tasks, performed by 14 different workers. The work tasks were mainly "light" to "moderately heavy". For total scores, the level of disagreement for shoulder/arm had a Relative Position of 0.13 (95% CI: 0.02; 0.23) and no statistically significant random disagreement. Percentage agreement was 63-100% for individual items and 71-88% for total score. Weighted Kappa of agreement for the individual items rated by the assessors were 0.94-0.77; highest for back motion, and lowest for wrist/hand position. The Swedish translation of the Quick Exposure Check has moderate to very good inter-rater reliability with fair to slight levels of systematic disagreement. There was no statistically significant random disagreement.
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| 9. |
- Oliv, Stefan, et al.
(author)
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Workplace Interventions can Reduce Sickness Absence for Persons With Work-Related Neck and Upper Extremity Disorders: A One-Year Prospective Cohort Study
- 2019
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In: Journal of occupational and environmental medicine. - 1536-5948. ; 61:7, s. 559-564
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate whether workplace interventions are effective in reducing sickness absence in persons with work-related neck and upper extremity disorders and whether disorder improvement after intervention reduces sickness absence. METHODS: This study was a prospective cohort study of workers with work-related neck pain or upper extremity disorders. Data were obtained from the Swedish "Work-related disorders" and "Work environment" surveys. Register data on sickness-absence 1 year after the surveys were made and obtained from the Swedish health insurance database. RESULTS: A significant lower number of sickness-absence days were found for workers reporting improvement after intervention. CONCLUSION: The findings in this study suggest that workplace intervention can reduce sickness absence for workers with neck or upper extremity disorders only if the intervention improves the disorder. The interventions were most effective in reducing medium long sickness absence periods.
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