Chronic disease has a significant impact on workers' productivity. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of chronic health conditions, the work impairment score, and the total lost working hours absent at companies in Japan. Eligible participants were all 544 workers of 4 manufacturing companies in the Kanto area. The Stanford Presenteeism Scale that was developed by Merck & Co., Inc and Stanford University was translated into Japanese and was given to the workers at a periodic health examination between April and June 2006. A total of 433 workers completed the questionnaire, and 48.9% of the participants reported having one or more chronic health conditions which affected their work performance. Allergy (13.3%) was the highest primary chronic health condition followed by back/neck disorders (9.7%). The work impairment score was higher for individuals with depression and migraine/chronic headache. The total lost working hours due to the primary chronic health conditions were 1.4% of the total working hours among the participants. The total lost working hours was highest for those with allergy followed by back/neck disorders and depression. These results should make it possible to develop an occupational health program that can reduce the effects of chronic health conditions on work performance.

A method for routinely determination of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and dimethyl sulfone (DMSO(2)) in human urine was developed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The urine sample was treated with 2,2-dimethoxypropane (DMP) and hydrochloric acid for efficient removal of water, which causes degradation of the vacuum level in mass spectrometer and shortens the life-time of the column. Experimental DMP reaction parameters, such as hydrochloric acid concentration, DMP-urine ratio, reaction temperature and reaction time, were optimized for urine. Hexadeuterated DMSO was used as an internal standard. The recoveries of DMSO and DMSO(2) from urine were 97-104 and 98-116%, respectively. The calibration curves showed linearity in the range of 0.15-54.45 mg/L for DMSO and 0.19-50.10 mg/L for DMSO(2). The limits of detection of DMSO and DMSO(2) were 0.04 and 0.06 mg/L, respectively. The relative standard deviations of intra-day and inter-day were 0.2-3.4% for DMSO and 0.4-2.4% for DMSO(2). The proposed method may be useful for the biological monitoring of workers exposed to DMSO in their occupational environment.

HBV-and HCV-Infected Workers in the Japanese Workplace, Rie NARAI, et al. Department o f E n v i r o n m e n t a l H e a l t h , U n i v e r s i t y o fOccupational and Environmental Health-Around three million Japanese are persistently infected with HBV or HCV. Though most of them work in various industries, little is known about the actual conditions in their workplaces. To clarify the workplace conditions of workers with hepatitis, three kinds of questionnaire surveys, answered by occupational health physicians and workers with hepatitis, were carried out. The rates of workers recognized as workers with hepatitis B or C by occupational health physicians were 0.82% and 0.48% of 130,092 workers, respectively. About 30% of workers with hepatitis were engaged in "hazardous work". The percentage of workers engaged in various types of hazardous work among workers with hepatitis was nearly the same as that among all Japanese workers. About 30% of occupational health physicians witnessed exacerbation of hepatitis in the workers at their workplaces, and 22% of workers with hepatitis experienced exacerbation of hepatitis. The rate of workers with hepatitis who had experienced exacerbation was not significantly different between workers with and without hazardous work. Workers with hepatitis have strong concerns about the relationship between work and exacerbation. As causes of exacerbation, occupational health physicians cited "unknown", "drinking" and "quit treatment" while workers with hepatitis answered "work-related causes", besides "unknown" and "drinking." (J Occup Health 2007; 49: 9-16)

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Limitations on Work and Attendance Rates after Employees with Cancer Returned to Work at a Single Manufacturing Company in Japan:Takayuki OHGURI, et al. Department of Radiology, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan-Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the work limitations and attendance rates after employees diagnosed with cancer returned to work from sick leave, and to identify the related factors for the limitations and attendance rates at a single manufacturing company in Japan. Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed 129 men and 4 women, employed in a single manufacturing industry, who returned to work after sick leave due to newly diagnosis of cancer. Limitations on work after the return to work were enforced in the workplace based on an industrial physician's evaluation. All the employees who needed measures for work were examined by the industrial physicians every 1-6 months until the termination of such work limitations. Results: Limitations on work after the return to work were enforced for 79 (59%) employees (36 employees with alteration of work, 31 with prohibition of shift work and 55 with prohibition of overtime work). A higher degree of work limitations was significantly correlated with work-related factors before sick leave (i.e. shift work, production line) as well as disease/treatment-related factors (i.e. chemotherapy, recurrence/metastasis), while the attendance rates after the return to work were not correlated with adverse work-related factors before sick leave. Conclusion: The enforcement of work limitations for employees with cancer was relatively common and was based on both disease/treatmentand work-related factors, and this phenomenon may play an important role in the return to work as well as the successful continuation of work after cancer survivors return to work. (J Occup Health 2009; 51: 267-272)