[Recommendations on interpretive strategies for routine lung function tests].

During the annual conference of the German Respiratory Society (DGP = Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pneumologie und Beatmungsmedizin) in 2024, updated recommendations for lung function testing have been published. The original full-length version can be downloaded free of charge as pfd-paper from the journal entitled "Atemwegs- und Lungenkrankheiten, Jahrgang 50 (2024) März (111-184)". In the current recommendations new approaches have been embedded that focus on modern interpretations of lung function results, as has been proposed by the ERS (European Respiratory Society) in collaboration with the ATS (American Thoracic Society).

Physical workload and cardiopulmonary parameters in relation to individual capacity of bulk waste workers - a cross-sectional field-study.

Purpose: Waste collection is considered particularly heavy work, although no previous study has yet investigated the strain of bulk waste collection. The aim of this study is to determine the workload of bulk waste workers in practice.

Method: We conducted a cross-sectional field-study.

[Patient Care in German Outpatient Clinics for Environmental Medicine Illustrated by the Examples of Hamburg and Munich University Hospitals].

People can be affected by various environmental factors (e. g., odor, noise) which can lead to medical complaints or illnesses.

[Diagnosis and treatment of asthma: a guideline for respiratory specialists 2023 - published by the German Respiratory Society (DGP) e. V.].

The management of asthma has fundamentally changed during the past decades. The present guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of asthma was developed for respiratory specialists who need detailed and evidence-based information on the new diagnostic and therapeutic options in asthma. The guideline shows the new role of biomarkers, especially blood eosinophils and fractional exhaled NO (FeNO), in diagnostic algorithms of asthma.

Does working in an extremely cold environment affects lung function?: 10 years follow-up.

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate whether there is an association between brief but repeated exposures to extremely cold temperatures over many years and pulmonary function.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of the data collected over 10 years in the context of the extended medical examinations of storeworkers exposed to extremely cold temperatures. We considered forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV), Tiffeneau-Pinelli index (FEV/FVC), CO diffusion capacity (D) and Krogh-factor (CO diffusion capacity relative to recorded alveolar volume, D/VA) reported as %-predicted.

Police officers' work-life balance, job satisfaction and quality of life: longitudinal effects after changing the shift schedule.

Objectives: To evaluate mental health-related outcomes of police officers 5.5 years after implementing a new alternating shift schedule which was supposed to improve their health and work-life balance.

Design: Pre-post study design with a baseline survey at the beginning of the piloting of the new shift schedule in 2015 and another survey 5.

Evolution of work ability, quality of life and self-rated health in a police department after remodelling shift schedule.

Background: There exists a great diversity of schedules concerning the way shift work is organized and implemented with ample agreement regarding recommendable features of a shift system. In order to adapt the shift schedule of a metropolitan police department to current recommendations, a remodelled shift schedule was introduced in 2015. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential associations between the remodelled shift schedule and work ability, quality of life and self-rated health after one and five years.

Restrictions of VC and DLCO in relation to asbestos-related computed tomographic findings quantified by ICOERD-based parameters.

Background: Even almost 30 years after the ban on the use of asbestos in Germany, the effects of asbestos are still highly relevant in everyday clinical practice in occupational medicine. The aim of this study was to further investigate the significance of essential parameters of both pulmonary function diagnostics and imaging techniques (low-dose HR-TCT) for the prevention and early detection of asbestos-related morphological and functional lung changes.

Methods: Data from spirometry, body plethysmography and diffusion capacity, as well as CT images of the thorax, were retrospectively studied from 72 patients examined between 2017 and 2019 at the Institute for Occupational and Maritime Medicine (ZfAM), Hamburg, Germany.

Workplace-related inhalation test - Specific inhalation challenge: S2k Guideline of the German Society for Occupational and Environmental Medicine e.V. (DGAUM), the German Society for Pneumology and Respiratory Medicine e.V. (DGP) and the German Society for Allergology and Clinical Immunology e.V. (DGAKI).

Not available.

[Adaptation of infection protection measures in public services due to the COVID-19 pandemic].

The COVID-19 pandemic is changing the requirements for occupational health and safety in the workplace. The aim of the measures implemented nationwide is to reduce the spread of the virus. This applies to all areas of life, including the workplace.

Severe bronchial reaction to provocation with fish and crustaceans.

The specific inhalation challenge (SIC), a workplace-related inhalation exposure test, is used to identify allergic asthma when symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, or dyspnea occur at the workplace. Its use is risky. A cook (28 years old) has been complaining of rhinoconjunctivitis and contact urticaria while preparing seafood for 3 years.

[Classroom teaching at universities and colleges under the conditions of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic].

In order to maintain university teaching while observing the distance rules in accordance with the occupational health and safety standard of the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS), special regulations and measures must be observed under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic when students and teaching staff meet in large groups (lecture hall) and small teaching rooms (seminars, internships). The article gives detailed recommendations for the practical implementation of protective and preventive measures according to the STOP principle, which is customary in occupational health and safety: substitution, technical, organisational and personal protective measures. Responsibilities are named and also difficult situations where physical proximity is necessary (e.

Relations between vital capacity, CO diffusion capacity and computed tomographic findings of former asbestos-exposed patients: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Asbestos-related lung diseases are one of the leading diagnoses of the recognized occupational diseases in Germany, both in terms of their number and their socio-economic costs. The aim of this study was to determine whether pulmonary function testing (spirometry and CO diffusion measurement (D)) and computed tomography of the thorax (TCT) are relevant for the early detection of asbestos-related pleural and pulmonary fibrosis and the assessment of the functional deficiency.

Methods: The records of 111 formerly asbestos-exposed workers who had been examined at the Institute for Occupational and Maritime Medicine, Hamburg, Germany, with data on spirometry, D and TCT were reviewed.

Musculoskeletal pain among offshore wind industry workers: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: To assess whether there are differences in musculoskeletal pain among different types of occupations offshore and their relationship to ergonomic demands.

Methods: We conducted a web-based cross-sectional survey among workers from offshore wind energy companies operating within the German exclusive economic zone. We selected workers with regular offshore commitments and at least 28 days spent offshore in the past year (n = 268).

Phenotyping Occupational Asthma Caused by Acrylates in a Multicenter Cohort Study.

Background: While acrylates are well-known skin sensitizers, they are not classified as respiratory sensitizers although several cases of acrylate-induced occupational asthma (OA) have been reported.

Objective: To evaluate the characteristics of acrylate-induced OA in a large series of cases and compare those with OA induced by other low-molecular-weight (LMW) agents.

Methods: Jobs and exposures, clinical and functional characteristics, and markers of airway inflammation were analyzed in an international, multicenter, retrospective cohort of subjects with OA ascertained by a positive inhalation challenge to acrylates (n = 55) or other LMW agents (n = 418) including isocyanates (n = 125).

Severe Occupational Asthma: Insights From a Multicenter European Cohort.

Background: Although sensitizer-induced occupational asthma (OA) accounts for an appreciable fraction of adult asthma, the severity of OA has received little attention.

Objective: The aim of this study was to characterize the burden and determinants of severe OA in a large multicenter cohort of subjects with OA.

Methods: This retrospective study included 997 subjects with OA ascertained by a positive specific inhalation challenge completed in 20 tertiary centers in 11 European countries during the period 2006 to 2015.

Spiroergometric measurements under increased inspiratory oxygen concentration (FIO2)-Putting the Haldane transformation to the test.

Spiroergometric measurements of persons who require oxygen insufflation due to illness can be performed under conditions of increased inspiratory oxygen concentration (FIO2). This increase in FIO2, however, often leads to errors in the calculation of oxygen consumption ([Formula: see text]). These inconsistencies are due to the application of the Haldane Transformation (HT), an otherwise indispensable correction factor in the calculation of [Formula: see text] that becomes inaccurate at higher FIO2 concentrations.

The physical performance of workers on offshore wind energy platforms: is pre-employment fitness testing necessary and fair?

Purpose: Workers on offshore wind turbine installations face a variety of physical and psychological challenges. To prevent potentially dangerous situations or incidents, guidelines for the physical aptitude testing of offshore employees in Germany and other European countries have been developed. However, these criteria have not been previously empirically tested for validity.

Development of the Metabolic Syndrome: Study Design and Baseline Data of the Lufthansa Prevention Study (LUPS), A Prospective Observational Cohort Survey.

The (LUPS) study is a prospective observation of a healthy worker cohort to identify early changes in metabolism leading to the Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) and to analyze their relation to behavioral factors like nutrition, physical activity, psychological status, and to underlying genetic conditions. The LUPS study recruited a sample of 1.962 non-diabetic healthy adults between 25-60 years, employed at a flight base of Lufthansa Technik GmbH in Hamburg, Germany.

Sleep quality of offshore wind farm workers in the German exclusive economic zone: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To assess the quality of sleep of employees in the German offshore wind industry and to explore factors associated with poor sleep quality.

Design: Web-based cross-sectional survey.

Setting: Offshore companies operating in wind farms within the German exclusive economic zone.

Workplace health promotion for employees working in offshore wind parks in the German exclusive economic zone: a mixed-methods study.

Objectives: To investigate the awareness and use of health promotion offers among offshore wind workers and to study associations with demographic and workplace characteristics. To examine employees' reasons for (non-)participation and their wishes for health promotion activities offshore.

Design: Mixed-methods study presenting the results from semistructured telephone interviews and a web-based cross-sectional survey.

Linking quantitative demands to offshore wind workers' stress: do personal and job resources matter? A structural equation modelling approach.

Background: Employees in the offshore wind industry are exposed to various job demands, increasing the workers' risk of experiencing strain reactions. However, personal and job resources might play a role in the stressor-strain context. The aim of this study was (1) to examine the link between offshore employees' quantitative demands and stress, and (2) to study the role of personal and job resources (psychological detachment from work, social support, and influence at work) in this stressor-strain relationship.