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Biomedical subjects

E J Bernacki

Publications and source records attributed to E J Bernacki.

35 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Relationship of employee turnover to exercise adherence in a corporate fitness program.

The life table method of analysis was used to study the differences in turnover during a 4-year period among employees who participated in a corporate health and fitness program and those who did not. The study population consisted of 1,360 workers hired between Jan 1, 1982, and Dec 31, 1985, of whom 747 were exercisers; and 1,788 persons hired between Jan 1, 1978, and Dec 31, 1981, of whom 869 were exercisers. Age, sex, general job category, and duration of employment were taken into account in the analysis. For both groups the probability of continued employment among exercisers was significantly greater than among nonexercisers. The differences were particularly profound among female clerical employees. The study did not attempt to assess the causal nature of this relationship. However, we speculate that health and fitness programs influence turnover in employment groups where the personal financial benefits are the greatest.

Humans↗
PubMed1987

Mental health care utilization and costs in a corporate setting.

This article presents the mental health care utilization and costs among 14,162 employees and their families, covered under a major medical policy of a large multinational corporation for the 1984 policy year. Mental health care costs comprise a substantial portion of the total health care dollars expended (8.1%) for a relatively small fraction of the total number of claims (2.8%). The average hospital stay for mental disorders (20 days for employees; 15 days for spouses; 43 days for dependents) was significantly longer than for other illnesses (6.1 days for employees; 6.2 days for spouses; 4.4 days for dependents). Although the average daily hospital cost for mental disorders was less than that for non-mental conditions, total expenditures per admission were approximately three times higher due to the long lengths of stay. Case management, peer utilization review, and day treatment are recommended to reduce these costs.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

A preliminary investigation: effect of a corporate fitness program on absenteeism and health care cost.

A random sample of 517 employees was studied to determine differences in health care costs and absenteeism among exercisers and nonexercisers during the start-up of a corporate health and fitness program. Exercise was associated with decreased illness absence among female exercisers (47 v 69 hours, P less than .05) and there was a trend for illness absence to be inversely related to advancing age among exercisers, whereas illness absence increased among nonexercisers. Total health care costs among exercisers was lower (male $561, females $639) than among nonexercisers (male $1,003, females $1,535). Due to the large variation in the individual cost, the differences between exercisers and nonexercisers were not statistically significant. Ambulatory health care cost for nonexercisers (males $486, females $883) were significantly higher than the costs for exercisers (males $408, females $243). Because the differences were found upon program initiation, they were thought to be characteristics of exercisers and not due to exercise itself.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1986

Analysis of a corporation's health care experience: implications for cost containment and disease prevention.

This article presents the health care experience of 14,162 employees and their families, covered under a private third-party insurance plan of a large multinational corporation for the 1984 policy year. A total of $29.5 million was charged by health care providers to deliver medical care for the studied employees and their families. This amounted to $2,083 per employee and his/her family. Approximately 51% of the employees submitted claims, with females having greater utilization than males. The highest expenditures were for diseases of the circulatory system among adults (3.2 million or 23% for employees, $1.5 million or 14% for spouses). Among employees, neoplasms accounted for $1.4 million or 10% of costs, and musculoskeletal system $1.2 million or 9% of costs. Among spouses, pregnancy and diseases of the female reproductive system accounted for $1.2 million (12%) and $1.1 million (10%), respectively. Among dependents, the top three cost categories were mental disorders ($1.2 million or 24%), accident-related illnesses ($0.7 million or 14%), and diseases of the respiratory system ($0.6 million or 12%). Hospital care expenditures, including room and board, ancillary, and physician services, accounted for approximately 60% of total health care spending. The percentage of health care costs paid for by this insurance plan was 75% for active employees, 34% for retirees, 60% for female spouses, 38% for male spouses, and 64% for dependents. The analyses and parameters measured can be viewed as the first step toward the development of a health care cost containment and disease prevention strategy.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

The relationship of job performance to exercise adherence in a corporate fitness program.

An investigation of the relationship between exercise adherence and job performance was conducted over a six-month period among a group of white-collar workers (3,231) eligible to participate in a corporate fitness program. The study population was divided into four job categories - management (561), professional (1,265), clerical (1,078), and other (327) - and five exercise adherence groups - nonmember (1,090), nonexerciser (926), exercised less than one time per week (738), exercised one to two times per week (238), and exercised more than two times per week (239). Current job performance ratings were determined for all individuals. A strong association (p less than .01) was observed between above average performance and increasing adherence levels. An inverse relationship was demonstrated between poor performance and increasing adherences levels (p less than .0001). In each adherence group no differences in performance were noted when prior performance was compared with current performance. On the basis of these findings there appears to be a positive although probably noncausal relationship between exercise adherence in a corporate fitness program and above average job performance.

Employee Performance Appraisal↗
PubMed1981

Developing job-related preplacement medical examinations.

Federal regulations prohibiting discrimination in hiring require that employment selection procedures to evaluate applicants be based on job-related criteria. The preplacement physical examination used in employment, particularly in the placement of handicapped persons, must also be conducted in a job-related manner. This paper discusses the development and use of the physical examination in selecting and placing applicants for jobs in the workplace with special reference to handicapped persons and disabled veterans. It presents and justifies a method of performing these examinations in a manner consistent with humanistic and business goals as well as the goals of federal regulatory agencies prohibiting employment discrimination.

Diagnostic Tests, Routine↗
PubMed1981

Personal and occupational factors associated with carpal tunnel syndrome.

This paper describes a case control study of the personal and environmental factors associated with the onset of carpal tunnel syndrome in workers at an aircraft engine manufacturing company. A comparison of 30 patients with carpal tunnel syndrome and 90 matched controls indicated that the use of vibratory hand tools and a history of gynecological surgery, specifically hysterectomy and oophorectomy, were strongly associated with the onset of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

An emergency medical care facility: program characteristics and patient attributes.

The objectives of this research were: (1) to describe the programmatic structure and characteristics of an emergency medical care facility that is a satellite clinic of a community hospital; (2) to describe the types of illness treated, and (3) to characterize the patients who used the facility. One-half of the presenting patients were treated for traumatic conditions; a major factor of clinic use for such patients was proximity. For patients with nontraumatic illnesses, the clinic was used when private physicians were unavailable. Almost 20% of all presentations resulted from referrals, suggesting acceptance of the clinic by private practitioners in the area. Previous users had more tenuous relationships with private physicians than did initial users and no difference was found between initial and previous users in the amount of nontraumatic illness. Patient attributes of high mobility, lower socio-economic status, and younger age were associated positively with frequent clinic use.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Urine nickel concentrations in nickel-exposed workers.

Electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry was employed for analyses of nickel concentrations in urine samples from nickel-exposed workers in 10 occupational groups and from non-exposed workers in two control groups. Mean concentrations of nickel in urine were greatest in workers who were exposed to inhalation of aerosols of soluble nickel salts (e.g., workers in nickel plating operations and in an electrolytic nickel refinery). Less marked increases in urine nickel concentrations were found in groups of metal sprayers, nickel battery workers, bench mechanics and are welders. No significant increases in mean concentrations of nickel were found in urine samples from workers who performed grinding, buffing and polishing of nickel-containing alloys or workers in a coal gasification plant who employed Raney nickel as a hydrogenation catalyst. Measurements of nickel concentrations in urine are more sensitive and practical than measurements of serum nickel concentrations for evaluation of nickel exposures in industrial workers.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Investigation of exposure to nickel and lung cancer mortality: case control study at aircraft engine factory.

A case-control mortality study was performed at an aircraft engine factory to assess the possible association between exposure to nickel-containing compounds and death from lung cancer. Forty-two non-salaried male workers who died of lung cancer from 1966 to 1976 were identified from a chronological registry of death certificates that has been maintained by the company's medical department. Each of the decedents was matched with the next two non-salaried decedents in the registry who were of the same sex and comparable age (+/- 10 years), and who died of causes other than cancer. Without knowledge of the workmen's identities or causes of death, one of the authors classified the deceased workmen as exposed or non-exposed to nickel compounds during their employment. The proportion of workmen who died of lung cancer and were exposed to nickel (11/42) was found to be equal to the proportion of workmen who died of non-cancerous causes and were exposed to nickel (22/84). This study indicates that workers in an aircraft engine factory who were chronically exposed to low atmospheric concentrations of presumably weakly carcinogenic nickel compounds did not have any apparent increase in the relative risk of mortality from lung cancer prior to treatment.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Fluctuations of nickel concentrations in urine of electroplating workers.

Nickel analyses were performed by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry upon urine specimens obtained from electroplating workers at the beginning, middle and end of the work-shift. The means (+/- S.D.) for nickel concentrations in urine specimens from seven electroplating workers on three regular workdays were: 34 +/- 32 micrograms/L (pre-shift); 64 +/- 63 micrograms/L (mid-shift) and 46 +/- 32 micrograms/L (end-shift), compared to 2.7 +/- 1.6 micrograms/L (pre-shift) in 19 controls (hospital workers). Nickel concentrations in urine specimens from six electroplating workers on the first workday after a two-week vactation averaged: 5 +/- 3 micrograms/L (pre-shift); 9 +/- 6 micrograms/L (mid-shift), and 12 +/- 6 micrograms/L (end-shift). Nickel concentrations in personal air samples (seven hours) collected from the breathing zones of five electroplating workers on three regular workdays averaging 9.3 +/- 4.4 micrograms/m3. Nickel concentrations in the air samples were correlated with nickel concentrations in end-shift urine specimens (corr. coef. = 0.70; P less than 0.05), but were not correlated with nickel concentrations in pre-shift or mid-shift urine specimens. In view of the fluctuations of urine nickel concentrations that occur during the work-shift, the authors recommend that nickel analyses of eight hour urine specimens be used routinely to monitor occupational exposures to nickel. In situations where timed urine collections are impractical, analyses of end-shift urine specimens are the best alternative.

Adult↗