ObjectivesThe aim of this review was to explore the notion of alcohol-related presenteeism; that is, whether evidence in the research literature supports an association between employee alcohol consumption and impaired work performance.DesignSystematic review of observational studies.Data sourcesMEDLINE, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL, AMED, Embase and Swemed+ were searched through October 2018. Reference lists in included studies were hand searched for potential relevant studies.Eligibility criteriaWe included observational studies, published 1990 or later as full-text empirical articles in peer-reviewed journals in English or a Scandinavian language, containing one or more statistical tests regarding a relationship between a measure of alcohol consumption and a measure of work performance.Data extraction and synthesisTwo independent reviewers extracted data. Tested associations between alcohol consumption and work performance within the included studies were quality assessed and analysed with frequency tables, cross-tabulations and χ2tests of independence.ResultsTwenty-six studies were included, containing 132 tested associations. The vast majority of associations (77%) indicated that higher levels of alcohol consumption were associated with higher levels of impaired work performance, and these positive associations were considerably more likely than negative associations to be statistically significant (OR=14.00,phi=0.37, p<0.001). Alcohol exposure measured by hangover episodes and composite instruments were over-represented among significant positive associations of moderate and high quality (15 of 17 associations). Overall, 61% of the associations were characterised by low quality.ConclusionsEvidence does provide some support for the notion of alcohol-related presenteeism. However, due to low research quality and lack of longitudinal designs, evidence should be characterised as somewhat inconclusive. More robust and less heterogeneous research is warranted. This review, however, does provide support for targeting alcohol consumption within the frame of workplace interventions aimed at improving employee health and productivity.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42017059620.

Background: Alcohol consumption is deeply integrated in people’s social- and work lives and, thus, constitutes a serious public health challenge. Attitudes toward drinking stand out as important predictors of drinking, but have to date been sparsely studied in employee populations. This study explores the association of employees’ attitudes toward drinking with their alcohol-related problems, and whether this association is moderated by gender and employment sector. Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected from a heterogeneous sample of employees (N = 4094) at 19 Norwegian companies. Drinking attitudes were assessed using the Drinking Norms Scale. The AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) scale was then used to assess any alcohol-related problems. Data were analyzed using chi-square tests, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and multiple logistic regression. Results: Employees with predominantly positive drinking attitudes were almost three times as likely to report alcohol-related problems compared to employees with more negative drinking attitudes (OR = 2.75; 95% CI: 2.00–3.76). Gender moderated the association between positive drinking attitudes and alcohol-related problems (OR = 3.30; 95% CI: 2.10–5.21). The association was stronger in women (OR = 5.21; 95% CI: 3.34–8.15) than in men (OR = 3.10; 95% CI: 2.11–4.55). Employment sector did not moderate the association between drinking attitudes and alcohol-related problems. Conclusions: Employee attitudes toward alcohol should be monitored to better enable early workplace health promotion interventions targeting alcohol problems. These interventions might need to be gender-specific.

Despite the strengths in the Iranian medical and health sciences educational system, areas in need of improvement have been noted. The purpose of this study was to understand the views of faculty members at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences about current and future needs for medical and health sciences education, with the goal of improving the quality of the educational system. The data were collected using a Delphi consensus method. Analysis of the findings identified the following key themes among the factors likely to contribute to medical and health sciences education and training: adding and/or increasing student numbers in higher degrees in preference to associate degrees; providing more interactive, student-centred teaching methods; improving the educational content with more practical and research-based courses tailored to society's needs; and an emphasis on outcome-based student evaluation techniques. These changes aim to respond to health trends in society and enhance the close relationship between medical education and the needs of the Iranian society. Réforme du système d'enseignement de la médecine et des sciences de la santé : étude selon la méthode Delphi sur les points de vue des membres du corps enseignant de l'Université des Sciences médicales de Chiraz RÉSUMÉ Malgré les aspects positifs du système iranien d'enseignement de la médecine et des sciences de la santé, certains domaines nécessitant une amélioration ont été identifiés. La présente étude visait à comprendre les points de vue des membres du corps enseignant de l'Université des Sciences médicales de Chiraz sur les besoins présents et à venir de l'enseignement de la médecine et des sciences de la santé, avec pour objectif d'améliorer la qualité du système d'enseignement. Les données ont été recueillies à l'aide de la méthode de consensus Delphi. L'analyse des résultats a permis de dégager les thèmes clés suivants parmi les facteurs susceptibles de contribuer à l'enseignement de la médecine et des sciences de la santé ainsi qu'à la formation en la matière : augmenter le nombre d'étudiants dans les années d'études supérieures plutôt dans que celles des diplômes d'études générales ; proposer davantage de méthodes d'enseignement interactives et axées sur l'étudiant ; améliorer le contenu de l'enseignement par des cours davantage centrés sur la pratique et la recherche et adaptés aux besoins de la société ; et privilégier les techniques d'évaluation de l'étudiant reposant sur les résultats. Ces changements visent à répondre aux tendances en matière de santé dans la société et à renforcer le lien étroit entre l'enseignement de la médecine et les besoins de la société iranienne.

Quality function deployment (QFD) is one of the most effective quality design tools. This study applies QFD technique to improve the quality of the burn unit services in Ghotbedin Hospital in Shiraz, Iran. First, the patients' expectations of burn unit services and their priorities were determined through Delphi method. Thereafter, burn unit service specifications were determined through Delphi method. Further, the relationships between the patients' expectations and service specifications and also the relationships between service specifications were determined through an expert group's opinion. Last, the final importance scores of service specifications were calculated through simple additive weighting method. The findings show that burn unit patients have 40 expectations in six different areas. These expectations are in 16 priority levels. Burn units also have 45 service specifications in six different areas. There are four-level relationships between the patients' expectations and service specifications and four-level relationships between service specifications. The most important burn unit service specifications have been identified in this study. The QFD model developed in the study can be a general guideline for QFD planners and executives.