Occupational burn-out, fatigue and stress in professional rescuers: a cross-sectional study in Kazakhstan.

Objectives: To find predictors of burn-out in a cohort of rescuers.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Republican Rescue Squad (N=105) and Republican Mudslide Rescue Service under the Ministry of Emergency Situations (N=480) in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Social network-based ethical analysis of COVID-19 vaccine supply policy in three Central Asian countries.

Background: In the pandemic time, many low- and middle-income countries are experiencing restricted access to COVID-19 vaccines. Access to imported vaccines or ways to produce them locally became the principal source of hope for these countries. But developing a strategy for success in obtaining and allocating vaccines was not easy task.

Fractional exhaled NO in a metalworking occupational cohort.

Purpose: Secondary metalworking carries exposure to relatively heavy levels of respirable particulate. We investigated the extent to which metalworking is associated with increased exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), an established inflammatory biomarker.

Methods: We studied 80 metalworking factory employees in Kazakhstan.

Health-related quality of life in a general population sample in Kazakhstan and its sociodemographic and occupational determinants.

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQL) in the general population of Kazakhstan has never been characterized. We constructed this population-based study of the largest city in Kazakhstan, Almaty with the aim to quantitatively assess HRQL and ascertain whether occupation and lifestyle are associated with HRQL in this population.

Methods: In a random sample (N = 1500) of general population in Almaty (median age 49 (interquartile range 28) years, 50% women), we collected data on demographics, socioeconomic status, lifestyle, lifetime occupational history and general HRQL using SF-8 instrument.

Social network-based ethical analysis of COVID-19 vaccine supply policy in three Central Asian countries.

Background In the pandemic time, many low- and middle-income countries are experiencing restricted access to COVID-19 vaccines. An access to imported vaccines or ways to produce them locally becomes the principal source of hope. But developing a strategy for success in obtaining and allocating vaccines is not easy task.

Smoking practices in relation to exhaled carbon monoxide in an occupational cohort.

Background: Exposure to carbon monoxide (CO) remains a leading occupational hazard in firefighters, but cigarette and waterpipe smoking likely contributes to the other sources of CO in such workers. The aim of this study was to estimate the contribution of self-reported active cigarette smoking, waterpipe use, and potential job-related sources of CO to the level of exhaled CO in firefighters.

Methods: We surveyed the personnel of 18 fire stations (N = 842), median age 28 years, who participated at an annual screening not timed to coincide with recent firefighting.

Plasma cutting and exposure to PM metal aerosol in metalworking, Almaty, Kazakhstan, 2020.

Objectives: Little is known regarding the metal working subprocesses that determine exposures in the workplace primarily because their segregation from the main process is rather difficult in real-life occupational settings. The present study aimed to identify the subprocesses in a metalworks plant with high personal exposure to particulate matter (PM metal aerosol in order to plan future risk reduction interventions.

Methods: A total of eighty 8-hour PM metal aerosol samples from the breathing zone of four workers in each of four major operations (plasma cutting, machine operating, assembling and welding) were collected in a metalwork plant in Almaty in January to June 2020.

Occupational exposure to particulate matter from air pollution in the outdoor workplaces in Almaty during the cold season.

Methods: Outdoor security non-smoking guards (N = 12) wore TSI DustTrack AM520 aerosol monitors with a 10-μm impactor for 8 hours of outdoor shift. Ten samples (k = 10) from each worker were obtained for the cold season (November-March) from various locations across Almaty. Total sampling time was 57600 minutes.

Lifetime Occupational History, Respiratory Symptoms and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Results from a Population-Based Study.

Purpose: To ascertain the effect of lifelong occupational history, ambient air pollution, and biochemically verified smoking status on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a general population of one the largest cities in Central Asia, Almaty.

Patients And Methods: 1500 adults (median age 49, interquartile range (IQR) 28 years), 50% females, were randomly selected from a registry of enlisted population of a primary care facility in Almaty, Kazakhstan and they filled in the questionnaire on demographics, respiratory symptoms (CAT and mMRC), smoking status, verified by exhaled carbon monoxide, and detailed lifetime occupational history. COPD was defined as postbronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) below lower limit of normal (LLN) using Belintelmed MAS-2 spirometer (Belarus).

Occupational burnout and lifestyle in Kazakhstan cardiologists.

Background: No data exist in the published literature on burnout in physicians from Central Asia. The aim of this analysis was to assess burnout prevalence in doctors and nurses of a cardiological hospital in Almaty, Kazakhstan and ascertain whether smoking, alcohol and physical activity may predict job-associated burnout.

Methods: The staff of the City Cardiological Centre of Almaty ( = 259, 82% females) filled in the questionnaire with the questions on demographics, lifestyle, including smoking, alcohol and physical activity, as well as fatigue (using Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS)) and burnout using Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) Human Services Survey for Medical Personnel.

Age and work duration do not predict burnout in firefighters.

Background: The aim of this study was to ascertain the prevalence of burnout in Kazakhstan firefighters with regard to position and to identify predictors of faster burnout in order to plan future preventive strategies.

Methods: Data on demographics, lifestyle, fatigue (Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS)), SF-8 health-related quality of life (HRQL) and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) emotional exhaustion (EX), cynicism (CY) and professional efficacy (PE) were obtained from 604 (94% men, median age 27 (interquartile range (IQR) 12) years) firefighters from all 18 fire departments of the city of Almaty. Associations between predictors and burnout EX, CY and PE dimensions were tested using multivariate logistic regression analyses.