Papers by Lutgart Braeckman
Methods A cross-sectional exhaustive study was conducted among the 80 workers in a steel company.... more Methods A cross-sectional exhaustive study was conducted among the 80 workers in a steel company. The recommendation of the 'analysis' level of the international standard ISO 8996 ' Ergonomics of the thermal environment -Determination of metabolic rate was adopted for the evaluation of the thermal strain. The international standard ISO 7933 ' Ergonomics of the thermal environment -Analytical determination and interpretation of heat stress using calculation of the predicted heat strain' was adopted for the assessment of the thermal stress. Thus, metabolism was evaluated based on the recording of heart rate during work withen steel workers. Moreover, physical parameters of thermal stress (air temperature, relative humidity, air velocity, globe temperature, clothing isolation, working metabolism) were assessed. Results The equivalent metabolism was equal to 292.7 W ±59.8 W. Thus, workload was 'acceptable' for the majority of workers (84.8%). Concerning the thermal stress level, 68.18% of the subjects were at risk of a long-term constraint (discomfort and risk of dehydration after several hours of exposure) and 30,3% of them faced a short term constraint (risk for Health after 30 to 120 min of exposure). Discussion The present study objectively quantified the physical workload in the steel sector. For most workers, the workload was light to moderate. The long-term and short-term thermal stress objectified in this study was the source of a workstation layout and a prevention strategy.
Skribis eBooks, 2018
Inhoudsopgave <N1> Inleiding <N1> Het belang van werk <N2> Werkloosheid als een ziekte en ziektes... more Inhoudsopgave <N1> Inleiding <N1> Het belang van werk <N2> Werkloosheid als een ziekte en ziektes van werklozen <N2> Oudere werknemers <N2> Invloed van slechte gezondheid op economische inactiviteit <N2> Jobtypes en gezondheid <N2> Wat betekent werk voor zieken? <N2> Absenteïsme <N1> Re-integratie op de werkvloer <N2> Achtergrond <N2> Factoren die meespelen op in domein van re-integratie en revalidatie <N2> Regelgeving in verband met arbeids(on)geschiktheid en re-integratie <N3> Taak van de arbeidsgeneesheer <N3> Koninklijke besluiten over re-integratie <N2> Semestriële cijfers 2017 <N2> Kansen en bedreigingen <N1> Bibliografie <N1> Inleiding Het uitoefenen van enige vorm van arbeid kan bepaalde risico's inhouden voor de gezondheid. In het licht hiervan ontstond in België de eerste regelgeving voor veiligheid en welzijn op het werk met name het 'Algemeen Reglement voor de Arbeidsbescherming' (ARAB) en recenter de 'Codex Welzijn op het werk' (vernieuwd op 28 april 2017 bevattend de uitvoeringsbesluiten van de wet van 4 augustus 1996). Werk kent vooral een negatieve connotatie, het woord 'travailler' vindt zijn oorsprong zelfs in het Latijnse 'tripotium' (een foltertuig) . Door een steeds veranderende maatschappij en arbeidsmarkt verdient de relatie tussen gezondheid en beroepsrisico's onze blijvende aandacht en blijft wetenschappelijk onderzoek wenselijk. Naarmate men vordert doorheen de tekst, wordt duidelijk dat de relatie tussen enerzijds werk en gezondheid en anderzijds gezondheid en werk complexer is dan eerst gedacht. 'A healthy workplace is one in which workers and managers collaborate to use a continual improvement to protect and promote health, safety and well-being of all workers and the sustainability of the workplace by considering the physical and psychosocial work environment, personal health resources in the workplace and the participation of enterprises in the community to improve health of workers, their families and other members of the community' . Ondanks het feit dat er, volgens de WHO, aandacht dient te gaan naar zowel het fysieke en mentale welzijn van werknemers, blijft de werkplek niet vrij van enig risico. Wereldwijd schat de Internationale Arbeidsorganisatie (IAO, 'International Labour Organisation' of 'ILO') dat er iedere vijftien seconden iemand overlijdt als gevolg van een werkgebonden ongeval of ziekte en dat er iedere vijftien seconden 153 mensen een arbeidsongeval hebben . Op jaarbasis zijn er volgens de laatste statistieken van de IAO ongeveer 2,3 miljoen overlijdens per jaar en zo'n 317 miljoen arbeidsongevallen . In België heeft Fedrisvroeger het Fonds voor Beroepsziekten (FBZ)in 2016 aan 48.238 slachtoffers van een beroepsziekte een vergoeding voor blijvende arbeidsongeschiktheid uitbetaald. De uitkeringen van Fedris bedragen ongeveer 253 miljoen euro per jaar (Federaal agentschap voor beroepsrisico's, 2016) <N1> Het belang van werk 'For those able to work, work is the best form of wellfare and the most effective way to improve well-being' (
for the referent group (p=0.015 and 0.003). For CPITN and LA scores, the adjusted odds ratio for ... more for the referent group (p=0.015 and 0.003). For CPITN and LA scores, the adjusted odds ratio for acid mist exposed group were 2.80 (95% CI: 1.00 to 7.88; p=0.05) and 2.85 (95% CI: 1.54 to 5.28; p=0.001). However, DMFT scores and dental erosion were not associated with the exposure to acid mist, even after control for age, duration of work, smoking habits, drinking habits and betel nut chewing habits. Discussion The findings suggest that the workers exposed to acid mist from electroplating would increase the risk of periodontal disease. Further work environmental design or equipment reform are still needed to protect from acid mist exposure.
Work
BACKGROUND: A frame of reference is needed to increase the comparability of vocational rehabilita... more BACKGROUND: A frame of reference is needed to increase the comparability of vocational rehabilitation assessment instruments and the interpretation of their results. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is a relevant framework, and when linking rules are used, items from existing assessment instruments can be linked to the appropriate categories as described in the ICF. OBJECTIVE: To develop an adapted linking methodology in which experts are involved by means of the application of consensus methods and to transfer this result in a step-by-step set of guidelines, supporting researchers and professionals, linking complex instruments to the ICF. METHODS: The main researcher developed the initial linking of the Integration von Menschen mit Behinderungen in die Arbeitswelt (IMBA) to the ICF by rigorously applying the refined ICF linking rules. To validate this linking, the Delphi and nominal group technique was integrated through different steps, ...
Work
BACKGROUND: The assessment of work capacity, workable work and the need for a common language is ... more BACKGROUND: The assessment of work capacity, workable work and the need for a common language is challenging in labour market policy. Being a specific instrument to facilitate Return To Work (RTW), the Integration von Menschen mit Behinderungen in die Arbeitswelt (IMBA) might facilitate the documentation of the individual’s work capacity, the job-related workload and the match between these two elements. Since the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is worldwide recognized as frame of reference in RTW, this paper presents the linking of IMBA to the ICF, since this is assumed to be beneficial to support RTW. OBJECTIVE: The establishment of the IMBA-ICF linking in order to study 1) the relationship between IMBA and ICF; 2) the content comparison of IMBA with work-related ICF core sets; and 3) the extent to which the linking addresses the challenges in RTW policy. METHODS: A content comparison of IMBA and ICF was conducted, using a 7- step linking m...
Safety and Health at Work, 2022
PLOS ONE, 2021
Background and objectives Return to work (RTW) or work resumption after a work absence due to psy... more Background and objectives Return to work (RTW) or work resumption after a work absence due to psychosocial or medical reasons benefits the well-being of a person, including transgender people, and is nowadays a major research domain. The objective is to examine, through an occupational lens, the literature reporting objective RTW outcomes and experiences in transgender people to (a) synthesize what is known about return to work (full-time, part-time, or self-employed) and (b) describe which gaps persist. Methods & sample Several databases and the gray literature were explored systematically. Studies between November 1, 2006 and March 1, 2021 revealing RTW quantitative and qualitative data of adult transgender people were eligible. This review was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42019128395) on April 30, 2019. Results Among the 14,592 articles initially identified, 97 fulfilled the inclusion criteria which resulted in 20 being analyzed. Objective RTW outcomes, such as number of RTW attemp...
The Lancet, 2021
Hypertension can be detected at the primary health-care level and low-cost treatments can effecti... more Hypertension can be detected at the primary health-care level and low-cost treatments can effectively control hypertension. We aimed to measure the prevalence of hypertension and progress in its detection, treatment, and control from 1990 to 2019 for 200 countries and territories. We used data from 1990 to 2019 on people aged 30-79 years from population-representative studies with measurement of blood pressure and data on blood pressure treatment. We defined hypertension as having systolic blood pressure 140 mm Hg or greater, diastolic blood pressure 90 mm Hg or greater, or taking medication for hypertension. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate the prevalence of hypertension and the proportion of people with hypertension who had a previous diagnosis (detection), who were taking medication for hypertension (treatment), and whose hypertension was controlled to below 140/90 mm Hg (control). The model allowed for trends over time to be non-linear and to vary by age. The number of people aged 30-79 years with hypertension doubled from 1990 to 2019, from 331 (95% credible interval 306-359) million women and 317 (292-344) million men in 1990 to 626 (584-668) million women and 652 (604-698) million men in 2019, despite stable global age-standardised prevalence. In 2019, age-standardised hypertension prevalence was lowest in Canada and Peru for both men and women; in Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and some countries in western Europe including Switzerland, Spain, and the UK for women; and in several low-income and middle-income countries such as Eritrea, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Solomon Islands for men. Hypertension prevalence surpassed 50% for women in two countries and men in nine countries, in central and eastern Europe, central Asia, Oceania, and Latin America. Globally, 59% (55-62) of women and 49% (46-52) of men with hypertension reported a previous diagnosis of hypertension in 2019, and 47% (43-51) of women and 38% (35-41) of men were treated. Control rates among people with hypertension in 2019 were 23% (20-27) for women and 18% (16-21) for men. In 2019, treatment and control rates were highest in South Korea, Canada, and Iceland (treatment >70%; control >50%), followed by the USA, Costa Rica, Germany, Portugal, and Taiwan. Treatment rates were less than 25% for women and less than 20% for men in Nepal, Indonesia, and some countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania. Control rates were below 10% for women and men in these countries and for men in some countries in north Africa, central and south Asia, and eastern Europe. Treatment and control rates have improved in most countries since 1990, but we found little change in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania. Improvements were largest in high-income countries, central Europe, and some upper-middle-income and recently high-income countries including Costa Rica, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Turkey, and Iran. Improvements in the detection, treatment, and control of hypertension have varied substantially across countries, with some middle-income countries now outperforming most high-income nations. The dual approach of reducing hypertension prevalence through primary prevention and enhancing its treatment and control is achievable not only in high-income countries but also in low-income and middle-income settings. WHO.
The Lancet, 2020
Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and ado... more Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks. Funding Wellcome Trust, AstraZeneca Young Health Programme, EU.
European Journal of Epidemiology, Jan 18, 2013
ABSTRACT The interplay of occupational and leisure time physical activity (LTPA) in affecting car... more ABSTRACT The interplay of occupational and leisure time physical activity (LTPA) in affecting cardiovascular health is subject to debate. This study aimed to examine the independent and interacting associations of leisure time and occupational physical activity (OPA) with the incidence of coronary events within the BELSTRESS cohort. The study included 14,337 middle-aged men free from coronary heart disease at baseline. Standardized questionnaires and clinical examinations were used to assess socio-demographic factors, level of physical activity, job strain and classical coronary risk factors. The incidence of clinical coronary events was monitored during a mean follow-up time of 3.15 years. Results demonstrated overall a beneficial relation of LTPA and an adverse relation of physical work demands with cardiovascular health. However, an interaction effect between both physical activity types was observed, showing that men with high physical job demands who also engaged in physical activity during leisure time had an almost four times increased incidence of coronary events after adjusting for socio-demographic and classical coronary risk factors (HR 3.82; 95 % CI 1.41-10.36). Stratified analyses revealed that moderate to high physical activity during leisure time was associated with a 60 % reduced incidence rate of coronary events in men with low OPA (age adjusted HR 0.40; 95 % CI 0.21-0.76), while this protective association was not observed in workers being exposed to high physical work demands (age adjusted HR 1.67; 95 % CI 0.63-4.48). These findings suggest that recommendations regarding LTPA should be tailored according to the level of occupational physical activity.
Introduction Firefighters are exposed to carcinogens and have elevated cancer rates. Cancer may b... more Introduction Firefighters are exposed to carcinogens and have elevated cancer rates. Cancer may be caused by activation of oncogenes or inhibition of tumour suppressor genes, such as through alterations in microRNA (miRNA) concentrations and DNA methylation. We hypothesised that occupational exposures in firefighters would lead to epigenetic changes associated with activation of cancer pathways and increased cancer risk. We designed this study to compare epigenetic changes in incumbent firefighters and new recruits. Methods At the time of subject selection, the study population consisted of 119 incumbents and 70 recruits. From this group, 108 subjects were randomly selected for miRNA analysis and 96 for DNA methylation analysis, both evenly divided among incumbents and recruits. Only non-smoker male firefighters were included in the final comparison. MiRNAs and DNA methylation were measured with the nCounter Human v3 miRNA expression assay with over 828 miRNAs and the Illumina MethylationEPIC 850 k chips, respectively. Result After adjusting for age and BMI, miR-1260a, miR-145-5 p, miR-181c-5p, miR-331-3 p, miR-361-5 p, and miR584-3 p were significantly downregulated in incumbent firefighters. MiR-208b-5p, miR-30e-3p, and miR-486-3 p were significantly overexpressed in incumbents. Controlling the genomewide false discovery rate at 5%, 22 CpGs were annotated to promoter regions of a gene and were hypermethylated in the incumbents including YIPF6, HELB, SYT5 and DVL2. Discussion MiR-181c-5p, miR-145-5 p, and miR-584-3 p are involved in tumour suppression. MiR-30e-3p is upregulated in skin cancer and is a poor prognostic factor in lung cancer. Co-amplification of the YIPF6 gene with the androgen receptor may stimulate prostate tumour progression. Aberrant activation of HELB reduces genomic stability, a hallmark of cancer. SYT may have a novel function in breast cancer. DVL2 is a part of the Wnt signalling pathway involved in multiple cancers. These epigenetic biomarkers of carcinogenic exposure in firefighters should be further evaluated in larger studies.
• This study confirms that indicators of non-standard work arrangements, with the exception of co... more • This study confirms that indicators of non-standard work arrangements, with the exception of contract type, were significantly associated with injuries. • More attention should be paid to workers with non-standard work arrangements. • Further efforts on the workplace, the organizational and political level are needed to avoid non-standard work arrangements in order to improve workers' health and safety.
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Apr 1, 2017
At both assessments, five questions on probability of exposure to biological, physical and chemic... more At both assessments, five questions on probability of exposure to biological, physical and chemical agents, psychosocial, and ergonomic factors were posed. For example: ''Do you think you are at risk to acquire a disease due to infectious agents during
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Papers by Lutgart Braeckman