Work-Related Factors Associated withVisiting a Doctor for a Medical diagnosis after a Worksite Screening for Diabetes Mellitus in Japanese Male Employees: Kaho TSUDA, et al. Department of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine and Dentistry-This paper aims to investigate the work-related factors that affect whether Japanese male employees will seek a medical diagnosis after being screened for diabetes mellitus. Participants in this study received a questionnaire two months after receiving the results of their physical checkup. The analysis focused on 213 regular employees of small and medium-sized companies who were aged 35-64 and who had tested positive for diabetes in a screening. Only 42% of the subjects visited a doctor for medical diagnosis during an average follow-up period of 47.5 d. Cox's proportional hazard regression was used to analyze the length of time between the employees' receipt of the results and their first visit to a doctor's office. The employees who could comfortably take a day off, compared to those who found it difficult to do so, were more likely to visit a doctor (hazard ratio (HR) 1.94; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.85, 4.42; p for trend 0.05). In addition, employees with a high level of psychological job control, compared to those with low level of job control, were more likely to visit a doctor (HR 1.80; 95%CI 0.94, 3.45; p for trend 0.08). Employees who worked the longest (61 h per week or more) were less likely to visit a doctor than those working from 41 to 60 h weekly (HR 0.41; 95%CI 0.17, 0.98). The findings suggest that a flexible work schedule, autonomy at work, and no excessive working hours tend to improve the chance of visiting a doctor

A 76-year-old male died of lung cancer. At first, he was diagnosed as a silicosis, because he had worked for 30 years as a caster in shipyard and large opacities detected by chest x-ray and CT scanning. After the operation of lung cancer, numerous asbestos bodies were observed in the operated lung tissues. The detailed occupational inquiry revealed his asbestos use as a caster in shipyard. Early stage of asbestosis was suspected by chest CT scanning, but not definitely diagnosed in premortal examinations. Asbestosis, pleural plaques, silicosis and large cell carcinoma of the lung were histopathologically confirmed at the autopsy. A patient with asbestos-induced lung cancer complicated by silicosis was rarely published in the literature.