Towards the year 2049: The next 25 years of occupational health and safety research.

Objective: In this discussion paper, we close our 2024 series reflecting on the successes, failures, and promises of occupational health and safety research in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health (SJWEH). This paper aims to elaborate on the future of our research field.

Methods: We conducted a narrative review of lessons learned in the series, examining insights gained and key takeaways.

Effect of alternative dosing strategies of pembrolizumab and nivolumab on health-care emissions in the Netherlands: a carbon footprint analysis.

Background: Hospitals contribute substantially to greenhouse gas emissions and face a moral obligation to prioritise emission reduction. Drugs constitute an important component of the greenhouse gas emissions of hospitals. Alternative dosing strategies (ADS) have been implemented to improve the cost-effectiveness of pembrolizumab and nivolumab.

Personalized sleep and nutritional strategies to combat adverse effects of night shift work: a controlled intervention protocol.

Background: Working during the night interferes with the timing of normal daily activities and is associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases. Under controlled experimental conditions, interventions focusing on sleep and nutrition can mitigate the short-term adverse effects of shift work. However, it is unclear how these results translate to real-life, how they can be targeted to individual conditions, and how they relate to long-term health.

Effects and implementation of an intervention to improve sleep, fatigue and recovery among healthcare workers with night shifts: A pre- and post-test study.

Background: Previous intervention studies among night workers mainly focused on single interventions and found inconclusive evidence for effectiveness. A comprehensive intervention approach that includes individual and environmental components has been argued as important. Gaining insight into contributing factors for the implementation of interventions for night workers and effectiveness is important to distinguish between theory and programme failure.

The carbon footprint of a Dutch academic hospital-using a hybrid assessment method to identify driving activities and departments.

Background: The healthcare sector is responsible for 7% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Netherlands. However, this is not well understood on an organizational level. This research aimed to assess the carbon footprint of the Erasmus University Medical Center to identify the driving activities and sources.

Precarious work and methodological challenges to study hard-to-reach populations.

Objective: To describe the methodological challenges and strategies of a web survey on the working conditions and health among delivery workers.

Methods: The study population consisted of Brazilian delivery workers operating in the national territory. Procedures include building solid and ongoing collaboration with worker representatives and conducting a four-month data collection from February to May 2022, sharing the link to the online questionnaire on social media such as social networks (Facebook, Instagram) and messaging apps (WhatsApp, Telegram).

Physical and psychosocial work-related exposures and the occurrence of disorders of the shoulder: A systematic review update.

This review is an update of a previous systematic review and assesses the evidence for the association of work-related physical and psychosocial risk factors and specific disorders of the shoulders. Medline, Embase, Web of Science Core Collection, Cochrane Central and PsycINFO were searched and study eligibility and risk of bias assessment was performed by two independent reviewers. A total of 14 new articles were added with the majority focusing on rotator cuff syndrome (RCS) with seven studies.

Changing smoking habits and the occurrence of lung cancer in Sweden-a population analysis.

Background: The objective is to estimate the importance of the decrease of smoking habits in Sweden for the occurrence of lung cancer.

Methods: The change in smoking habits in the general population was retrieved from surveys and on taxation of sale of cigarettes. We used data from the Swedish Cancer Register on incidence of lung cancer between 1970 and 2021, stratified for sex, age and cell type, and compared the occurrence overtime in ages between 40 and 84 years.

Preoperative Amiodarone and Primary Graft Dysfunction in Heart Transplantation.

Background: Preoperative amiodarone effects on postorthotopic heart transplant (OHT) outcomes remain controversial.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of cumulative pre-OHT amiodarone exposure on severe primary graft dysfunction (PGD).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed adult OHT recipients between August 2012 and June 2018.

Asbestos and disease - a public health success story?

Objective: This paper discusses the failure and success of society to decrease the adverse health effects of asbestos exposure on workers' health in relation to scientific knowledge.

Methods: The findings are based on a narrative literature review.

Results: Early warnings of the adverse health effects of workplace exposure to asbestos were published already in the 1930s.

Air pollution and childhood respiratory consultations in primary care: a systematic review.

Background: Outdoor air pollution is a known risk factor for respiratory morbidity worldwide. Compared with the adult population, there are fewer studies that analyse the association between short-term exposure to air pollution and respiratory morbidity in children in primary care.

Objective: To evaluate whether children in a primary care setting exposed to outdoor air pollutants during short-term intervals are at increased risk of respiratory diagnoses.

The effects of an interdisciplinary employment program on paid employment and mental health among persons with severe mental disorders.

Purpose: This study evaluates the effects of the interdisciplinary employment program 'Work As Best Care (WABC)' on employment participation and mental health of persons with severe mental disorders.

Methods: WABC is a 'work first' employment program for unemployed persons with severe mental disorders in which employment professionals work closely together with mental health professionals. In a longitudinal non-randomized controlled study, participants of WABC (n = 35) are compared with participants of the control group (n = 37), who received regular employment support.

Physical and psychosocial work-related exposures and the incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome: A systematic review of prospective studies.

This systematic review summarizes the evidence on associations between physical and psychosocial work-related exposures and the development of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Relevant databases were searched up to January 2020 for cohort studies reporting associations between work-related physical or psychosocial risk factors and the incidence of CTS. Two independent reviewers selected eligible studies, extracted relevant data, and assessed risk of bias (RoB).

Sleep quality, sleep duration, and sleep disturbances among hospital night workers: a prospective cohort study.

Purpose: This study aimed to assess among hospital night workers (i) to what extent sleep quality, sleep duration and sleep disturbances overlap, and (ii) associations between sociodemographic factors, lifestyle factors and work characteristics and sleep components.

Methods: Data were used from 467 hospital night workers participating in the Klokwerk + study, a prospective cohort study with two measurements. Sleep quality was measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, sleep duration and sleep disturbances were measured by the Medical Outcomes Study Sleep Scale.

Fifty years of research in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health.

Objective: The Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health was launched 50 years ago. In this paper we describe how research topics have changed over time.

Methods: A complete list of all 2899 articles in the past 50 years was compiled.

The relationship between having a job and the outcome of brief therapy in patients with common mental disorders.

Background: Previous studies have shown that being employed is associated not only with patients' health but also with the outcome of their treatment for severe mental illness. This study examined what influence employment had on improvements in mental health and functioning among patients with common mental disorders who received brief treatment and how patients' diagnosis, environmental and individual factors moderated the association between being employed and treatment outcome.

Methods: The study used naturalistic data from a cohort of patients in a large mental health franchise in the Netherlands.

Health Status, Type of Contract and Labour Force Participation.

Background: Health status, type of contract, education and age might affect labour force participation (LFP). We investigated possible factors associated with LFP among European countries.

Methods: European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data of 149,798 individuals were used and the odds ratios were calculated in logistic regression analyses.

Reach and effectiveness of a worksite health promotion program combining a preventive medical examination with motivational interviewing; a quasi-experimental study among workers in low socioeconomic position.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate individual characteristics associated with participation and effectiveness of a worksite health promotion program with motivational interviewing targeting health and health behaviour among Dutch workers in low socioeconomic position.

Methods: In a production company and a hospital, 838 workers were invited for a Preventive Medical Examination and subsequent coaching with motivational interviewing up to 7 sessions within 6 months. Follow-up information was collected after 6 months.

Health and inclusive labour force participation.

The future of work is rapidly changing, with higher flexibility of the labour market and increasing informal employment in many countries worldwide. There is also an increased pressure to extend working careers until older age. We introduce the concept of working life expectancy as a useful metric, capturing the expected numer of years in paid employment across the working age individuals, in particular among different groups.

Work as a social determinant of health in high-income countries: past, present, and future.

This paper, the first in a three-part Series on work and health, provides a narrative review of research into work as a social determinant of health over the past 25 years, the key emerging challenges in this field, and the implications of these challenges for future research. By use of a conceptual framework for work as a social determinant of health, we identified six emerging challenges: (1) the influence of technology on the nature of work in high-income countries, culminating in the sudden shift to telework during the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) the intersectionality of work with gender, sexual orientation, age, race, ethnicity, migrant status, and socioeconomic status as codeterminants of health disparities; (3) the arrival in many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries of large migrant labour workforces, who are often subject to adverse working conditions and social exclusion; (4) the development of precarious employment as a feature of many national labour markets; (5) the phenomenon of working long and irregular hours with potential health consequences; and (6) the looming threat of climate change's effects on work. We conclude that profound changes in the nature and availability of work over the past few decades have led to widespread new psychosocial and physical exposures that are associated with adverse health outcomes and contribute to increasing disparities in health.

The effects of a national, voluntary agreement for a more inclusive working life on work participation following long-term sickness absence: a Norwegian cohort study.

Objectives: This study aimed to estimate the average individual effect of the company-level Norwegian Agreement on a More Inclusive Working Life (IA Agreement) on individuals' (i) sustained return to work after a sickness absence (SA) episode, and (ii) recurrent SA.

Methods: Using register data, 79 253 men and 94 914 women born in Norway 1967-1976 were followed for one year between 2005 and 2010 after returning to work from an SA episode (>16 days). Weighted Cox proportional hazard models analysed time to first exit from work by companies' IA status (IA/non-IA).