Return on investment of workplace-based prevention interventions: a systematic review.

Background: Occupational Safety and Health is an important public health topic. Many employers may regard health promotion or prevention initiatives as an additional cost with few benefits. The aim of this systematic review is to identify the studies conducted on the return on investment (ROI) of preventive health interventions conducted within workplaces, and to describe their designs, topics and calculation methods.

Monitoring sick leave data for early detection of influenza outbreaks.

Background: Workplace absenteeism increases significantly during influenza epidemics. Sick leave records may facilitate more timely detection of influenza outbreaks, as trends in increased sick leave may precede alerts issued by sentinel surveillance systems by days or weeks. Sick leave data have not been comprehensively evaluated in comparison to traditional surveillance methods.

Circulatory disease in French nuclear fuel cycle workers chronically exposed to uranium: a nested case-control study.

Objectives: There is growing evidence of an association between low-dose external γ-radiation and circulatory system diseases (CSDs), yet sparse data exist about an association with chronic internal uranium exposure and the role of non-radiation risk factors. We conducted a nested case-control study of French AREVA NC Pierrelatte nuclear workers employed between 1960 and 2005 to estimate CSD risks adjusting for major CSD risk factors (smoking, blood pressure, body mass index, total cholesterol and glycaemia) and external γ-radiation dose.

Methods: The study included 102 cases of death from CSD and 416 controls individually matched on age, gender, birth cohort and socio-professional status.

Half-century archives of occupational medical data on French nuclear workers: a dusty warehouse or gold mine for epidemiological research?

This article discusses the availability and completeness of medical data on workers from the AREVA NC Pierrelatte nuclear plant and their possible use in epidemiological research on cardiovascular and metabolic disorders related to internal exposure to uranium. We created a computer database from files on 394 eligible workers included in an ongoing nested case-control study from a larger cohort of 2897 French nuclear workers. For each worker, we collected records of previous employment, job positions, job descriptions, medical visits, and blood test results from medical history.

Does uranium induce circulatory diseases? First results from a French cohort of uranium workers.

Objectives: Increased risk of circulatory system diseases (CSDs) was observed in nuclear workers handling uranium and plutonium in Russia and the UK. This work examines the CSD mortality after chronic intake of uranium among 2897 workers (79,892 person-years) at a uranium processing plant (1960-2006) in France.

Methods: Cumulative exposure to different uranium compounds, classified by their isotopic composition and solubility type, was quantified on the basis of a plant-specific job-exposure matrix and individual job histories.

Long-term cardiovascular mortality after radiotherapy for breast cancer.

Objectives: This study sought to investigate long-term cardiovascular mortality and its relationship to the use of radiotherapy for breast cancer.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are among the main long-term complications of radiotherapy, but knowledge is limited regarding long-term risks because published studies have, on average, <20 years of follow-up.

Methods: A total of 4,456 women who survived at least 5 years after treatment of a breast cancer at the Institut Gustave Roussy between 1954 and 1984 were followed up for mortality until the end of 2003, for over 28 years on average.

Health outcomes of children fathered by patients treated with radioiodine for thyroid cancer.

Context And Objectives: Radiation is known to be mutagenic. The present study analyses birth outcomes and the health of offspring from men previously exposed to (131) I treatment for thyroid carcinoma.

Methods: Data on 493 pregnancies (356 from 173 untreated fathers, 23 from 17 patients who have undergone surgery alone and 114 from 63 fathers who received (131) I) were obtained by interviewing male patients treated for thyroid carcinoma who had not received significant external radiation to the testes.

Therapeutic administration of 131I for differentiated thyroid cancer: radiation dose to ovaries and outcome of pregnancies.

Unlabelled: Radiation is known to be mutagenic. The present study updates a 10-y-old study regarding pregnancy outcome and the health of offspring of women previously exposed to radioiodine ((131)I) during thyroid carcinoma treatment, by doubling the number of pregnancies that occurred after exposure.

Methods: Data on 2,673 pregnancies were obtained by interviewing female patients who were treated for thyroid carcinoma but had not received significant external radiation to the ovaries.