Anticipated health effects and proposed countermeasures following the immediate introduction of telework in response to the spread of COVID-19: The findings of a rapid health impact assessment in Japan.

Objectives: The health effects of telework, which was introduced extensively in the immediate context of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in Japan, on teleworkers, their families, and non-teleworkers, are unknown. Accordingly, we developed a rapid health impact assessment (HIA) to evaluate positive and negative health effects of telework on these groups and recommended easily implementable countermeasures.

Methods: Immediately after an emergency was declared in Japan, we implemented a rapid, five-step HIA.

Validity and responsiveness of the work functioning impairment scale (WFun) in workers with pain due to musculoskeletal disorders.

Objective: To determine the convergent validity and responsiveness of the work functioning impairment scale (WFun) in workers with musculoskeletal disorder-related pain.

Methods: Participants were extracted from an internet user study and prospectively examined using the pain intensity numerical rating scale (pain-NRS), the work ability numerical rating scale (productivity-NRS), and the WFun at baseline, 2 weeks, 6 weeks, and 3 months. The convergent validity and responsiveness of the WFun were examined by multilevel regression analysis.

Diagnostic Accuracy of the Work Functioning Impairment Scale (WFun): A Method to Detect Workers Who Have Health Problems Affecting their Work and to Evaluate Fitness for Work.

Objective: This study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of the Work Functioning Impairment Scale (WFun), a questionnaire to detect workers with health problems which affect their work, using an assessment by an occupational health nurse as objective standard.

Methods: The WFun was completed by 294 employees. The nurse interviewed to assess 1) health problems; 2) effects of health on their work; necessity for 3) treatment, 4) health care instruction, and 5) consideration of job accommodation.

Prospective Cohort Study of Work Functioning Impairment and Subsequent Absenteeism Among Japanese Workers.

Objective: This study examined the association of work functioning impairment as measured by work functioning impairment scale (WFun) and subsequent sick leave.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted at a manufacturer in Japan, and 1263 employees participated. Information on sick leave was gathered during an 18-month follow-up period.

Evaluation and simplification of the occupational slip, trip and fall risk-assessment test.

Objective: The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate the efficacy of the occupational slip, trip and fall (STF) risk assessment test developed by the Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association (JISHA). We further intended to simplify the test to improve efficiency.

Methods: A previous cohort study was performed using 540 employees aged ≥50 years who took the JISHA's STF risk assessment test.

Development and validity of a work functioning impairment scale based on the Rasch model among Japanese workers.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop a new work functioning impairment scale (WFun) and examine its validity.

Methods: The WFun was developed based on the Rasch model, which consists of seven items. We conducted a pilot study (n=1,000) using an Internet investigation and a field study (n=1,294) in a manufacturing industry, and we additionally collected data from six workplaces from other industries.

An industry-based cohort study of the association between weight gain and hypertension risk among rotating shift workers.

Objectives: We investigated whether the association between shift work and hypertension is independent of weight gain.

Methods: Subjects were 10,173 male employees (9209 daytime workers, 964 three-shift workers; mean follow-up period: 12.7 years).

A cross-sectional study of workplace social capital and blood pressure: a multilevel analysis at Japanese manufacturing companies.

Objectives: We examined the contextual effect of workplace social capital on systolic blood pressure (SBP).

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: A conglomerate from 58 workplaces in Japan.

Retrospective cohort study of the risk of impaired glucose tolerance among shift workers.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of shift working on the risk of developing impaired glucose tolerance (IGT).

Methods: This study comprised 6413 male employees (5608 daytime workers, 512 3-shift workers and 293 2-shift workers) whose work schedules remained constant during the follow-up period (mean follow-up period 9.9 years).

[Practical use of DPC information for occupational health consultation].

Background: The Diagnosis Procedure Combination (DPC) is a national administrative case-mix classification system for acute inpatient care which was launched in Japan in 2003. This system was designed to increase the standardization and transparency of medical information. The system has collected medical information in a unified format nationwide from acute hospitals.

Industry-based retrospective cohort study of the risk of prostate cancer among rotating-shift workers.

Objectives: The risk of prostate cancer among shift workers was examined in the present industry-based retrospective cohort study.

Methods: The study was established based on a health-care database from a Japanese manufacturing corporation. Work schedules of 4995 male workers (mean age = 55.

Retrospective cohort study of the risk of obesity among shift workers: findings from the Industry-based Shift Workers' Health study, Japan.

Objectives: The authors investigated the effect of shift working on the risk of obesity using data from the Industry-based Shift Workers' Health (IbSH) study, a retrospective cohort study based on a health care database system belonging to a manufacturing corporation in Japan.

Methods: The study database contains data on annual health check-ups and work schedules for every worker in the corporation in Japan since 1981. Study subjects consisted of 9912 male employees (8892 daytime workers and 920 rotating three-shift workers; mean age at first check-up was 23.

[Health impact assessment of occupational health policy reform at a multinational chemical company in Japan].

A health impact assessment (HIA) was conducted to identify potential health impacts arising from policy reform of occupational health and safety at S-chemical company, a multinational global company that employs about 13,000 workers. A multidisciplinary team of health professionals including occupational physicians, an epidemiologist, and public health researchers oversaw the HIA. A project manager from S-company was also involved in the whole HIA process.

Anxiety about starting three-shift work among female workers: findings from the Female Shift Workers' Health Study.

In 1999, the Japanese Law on Equal Employment Opportunity and Conditions was amended and the previous prohibition of the assignment of female workers to night work was abolished. Subsequently, the number of female shift workers has been increasing in Japan, necessitating greater attention to the health care of this population. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the relationship between anxiety expressed about starting three-shift work and background characteristics among female workers who were being assigned to three-shift work for the first time.