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L Benamghar

Publications and source records attributed to L Benamghar.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Individual characteristics in occupational accidents due to imbalance: a case-control study of the employees of a railway company.

BACKGROUND: Falls are frequent occupational accidents, and are responsible for a significant amount of lost working time and, more importantly, for a high mortality. The factors involved in falling mechanisms can be of external or individual origin, the latter being less well identified. AIMS: To assess the relations between certain individual characteristics and occupational accidents due to imbalance. METHODS: A total of 427 male employees, who had been victims of at least one occupational accident with sick leave due to imbalance (cases) and 427 controls were recruited among the employees of a large French railway company. A standardised questionnaire on life conditions and professional factors, and a description of the accidents was filled in by an occupational physician for each subject. RESULTS: Some job categories were more affected by a specific release mechanism of work related falls. Certain individual characteristics such as smoking, alcohol consumption, inactivity, sleep disorders, and request for a job change were correlated with the occurrence of occupational accidents. Sick leaves of eight days or over were more frequent in older and overweight injured workers. Some lesions were linked with the specific fall released mechanisms. CONCLUSIONS: Individual characteristics can increase the risk of occupational accidents, especially falling. This study identified subjects most at risk on whom prevention related to working conditions and falls could be focused.

Accident Proneness↗
PubMed2002

[School-related injuries: incidence, causes, and consequences].

BACKGROUND: School accidents are frequent but little epidemiological information is available to guide prevention. In this study we examined the incidence, causes, and consequences of school accidents as a function of the pupil's characteristics. METHODS: An epidemiological study was conducted in all 2 396 adolescents attending two secondary school groups. Sociodemographic characteristics of the pupils and data on school accidents during a one-year period were collected using a questionnaire filled out by the school nurse in the presence of the victims. The chi-square independence test, Fisher's exact test and the logistic regression method were used for the statistical analysis. RESULTS: Sports and physical training (SPT) accidents accounted for 52.8% of the accidents, recreation accidents for 12.7% and other accidents for 33.6%. The annual incidence of one accident or more, for all types of accidents combined, was 12.9%, that for two or more accidents 2.3%. The rate of SPT and recreation accidents decreased strongly with age. SPT accidents were more frequent in girls, the other accidents more frequent in boys. Among the SPT accidents, 69.2% occurred under training conditions and 33.7% were caused by another person. Causes mentioned by the victims were: carelessness (26.0%), clumsiness (17.5%), misappreciation of risk (13.8%), tiredness (9.5%), nervous irritation (8.6%), rowdyism (6.0%), disrespect of the teacher's instructions (6.0%). The lesions were: contusions (50.7%), wounds (18.7%), tendinitis (11.7%), wrenches (9.2%), others (7.3%). They differed between age groups, sex, and category of sports. Localizations were mainly: fingers (27.4%), other localizations of the upper limb (20.1%), head (20.6%). A physician was consulted for 19.5% of the accidents and hospitalization followed 2.7%. Absence from school and exemption from SPT were frequent (11.4% and 16.3% respectively). CONCLUSION: The results could be used to inform adolescents so they and their families could become more aware of the risk of school accidents. Prevention should mainly focus on the younger children. An effort must be made regarding risk assessment in order to help the pupils become more careful and responsible during their sports activities. The choice of these activities and the materials used should be made more suitable for adolescents.

Accidents↗
PubMed1998

Sick-building symptoms in office workers in northeastern France: a pilot study.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To verify that sick building symptoms are present in north-eastern France office workers; to try to identify new confounding factors. METHODS: The design was that of a cross-sectional study with control group. We studied with the same methods the personnel of an air-conditioned building (n=425), and of a naturally ventilated building (n=351). Air temperature and humidity, bacterial and fungal densities were measured by the same technical staff in the two buildings. A standard questionnaire on irritative and respiratory symptoms, personal and family history, and lifestyle was completed by the participants. RESULTS: In univariate analysis, exposure to air-conditioning was associated with an increased prevalence of symptoms (odds ratios-OR-between 1.54 and 2.84). A significant increase in sickness absence was also found among subjects working in air-conditioned offices. As a series of factors were suspected to interfere with these associations, logistic regression was applied. This method confirmed exposure to be an independent determinant of 7 symptoms, and also identified two determinants not previously described: a family history of respiratory diseases and "do-it-yourself' activities. IN CONCLUSION: we found the sick building symptoms to be present in a group of French office workers exposed to air-conditioning. We confirmed the influence of a number of confounding factors and described two further confounders - do-it-yourself activities at home and a history of familial respiratory disease.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1998

[Accidents among students in professional or technological schools in Lorraine].

BACKGROUND: School accidents in adolescents in professional and technological secondary schools are relatively frequent. This work investigates these accidents in Lorraine (a French region) to identify preventive measures. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 4,751 adolescents from five volunteering schools. Only accidents occurring during one school-year and declared to the Social Security Services as work accidents were studied. RESULTS: Incidence of accidents per 1,000 subjects was 52.0: 21.3 for accidents during sports and physical training (SPT), 7.8 for those occurring during school training (except SPT), and 22.9 for spare time accidents. The incidence increased strongly with age and differed greatly between the type of schools. Girls had more accidents during SPT than boys. Injuries during school training were wounds and contusions of upper limb while the injuries during SPT and spare time were mainly articular disorders, contusions, and wounds of the upper limb, the lower limb, and the head and neck. A physician was consulted in almost 100% of the injuries, a radiological examination was performed for 75%, and a surgical intervention for 14% of the injuries. Absence from school, exemption from workshops and from SPT were frequent. The predominant risk factors were the type of activities, especially activities the adolescents were not accustomed to, personal behavior and risks taken by adolescents. CONCLUSION: Accidents are frequent, in particular among older adolescents. It is important to identify activities at risk, and to target prevention and awareness campaigns, assessment training to evaluate risks of each activity, and promoting safe behavior, although environmental factors cannot be excluded.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1995

Oral health in adolescents from a small French town.

In France, caries are more prevalent in rural areas than in large cities. This study analyzed the relationship between number of oral health indices and some known risk factors (toothbrushing, sugar consumption, saliva components) and sociodemographic factors in adolescents from a small town. The sample included 112 children aged 12-14 in the north-east of France. School marks was found to be better linked with dental caries indices than the socio-occupational category of parents: gingival index (GI), DMFS, DMFT and caries severity (CS) significantly increased with decreasing school marks; oral plaque was related to socio-occupational of parents. The analysis using the regression method showed that the variance explained by the various factors studied was modest (between 23 and 30%) for GI, initial caries sites (IS), DS, DMFS, DMFT and CS, and was small for plaque (5%) and calculus (3%). This would be due in part to the wide dispersion of these indices. The sex had a non-significant regression coefficient for all oral health indices investigated. For GI, only mutans streptococci (MS) and plaque had a significant regression coefficient. Calculus was explained by any factor considered. Only MS had a significant part in plaque. IS was explained by MS, toothbrushing and age. For DS, only toothbrushing, MS and sweet drinks during meals had a significant part. DMFS and DMFT were explained only by MS and age. CS was explained by MS, age, salivary buffer pH, salivary flow rate, and toothbrushing.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Representation of affinity in the case of co-operativity in protein-ligand binding.

We have already proposed a "Global Association Function" to represent the global affinity of proteins to a drug; it was first applied in the case of independent binding sites. In this paper, we show that this same function can also be used to assess interactions between sites by varying the number of interacting sites and their co-operativity level. The resulting curves in two application cases are given together with the corresponding Scatchard plot: i) in a system with one single class of identical and interacting sites, ii) in a system with two classes of sites in which either primary or secondary are interacting; unexpectedly, in this latter case we also observed that sometimes positive co-operativity occasionally resulted in a concave-up Scatchard plot which is unusually admitted. In addition, as described in one example, our function is assumption free; this might be an advantage over usual methods, such as discrete parameter methods, because they require additional and empirical hypotheses on their related binding model.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1994

[Estimation of static lung volumes by nitrogen washout method. Single breath of oxygen].

Total lung capacity (TLC) and residual volume (RV) estimations were obtained from single-breath nitrogen washouts in 96 male and 77 female healthy never-smokers with normal spirometry from a non-polluted rural area in north-east France. TLC depended on height (both sexes) and diminished slightly with age in males, with the body-mass index (kg/m2) in females. RV increased with age in both sexes and with weight in males. The RV/TLC ratio was related only to age. When compared with values obtained using multiple-breath helium dilution, our results yielded lower predicted values. The test depends heavily on the subject's co-operation, and errors are frequent if a standard procedure is not observed. This method cannot thus be recommended for routine use in patients with respiratory diseases.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Standard descriptive tables in WHO Oral Health epidemiological studies.

For many years the Oral Health Programme of the World Health Organization has promoted the development of oral health epidemiological surveys. The objective of this article is to make oral health researchers aware of the variables and statistical tables recommended by WHO for the standardization, presentation and comparability of international surveys. The influence of the growing impact of computer technology in providing better knowledge of oral health systems is also discussed in this article.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Mortality of iron miners in Lorraine (France): relations between lung function and respiratory symptoms and subsequent mortality.

An increased mortality from lung and stomach cancer was found in previous studies on Lorraine iron miners. A detailed analysis, however, was not possible due to the lack of data for survivors. In this study the cohort included 1178 workers selected at random from all the 5300 working miners aged between 35 and 55 at the start of the follow up period, which ranged from 1975 to 1985. Occupational exposures and tobacco consumption, lung function tests, and respiratory symptoms were assessed for each subject in 1975, 1980, and 1985. This study confirmed the excess of lung cancer (standardised mortality ratio (SMR) = 389, p < 0.001) and of stomach cancer (SMR = 273, p < 0.05). There was no excess of lung cancer in non-smokers and moderate smokers (< 20 pack-years) or the miners who worked only at the surface or underground for less than 20 years. A significant excess (SMR = 349, p < 0.001) was found in moderate smokers when they worked underground for between 20 and 29 years. Heavy smokers (over 30 pack-years) or subjects who worked underground for more than 30 years experienced a high risk: SMR = 478 (p < 0.001) for moderate smokers who worked underground for over 30 years; 588 (p < 0.001) for heavy smokers who worked underground for between 20 and 29 years; and 877 (p < 0.001) for heavy smokers who worked underground for over 30 years. This showed an interaction between smoking and occupational exposure. The excess mortality from lung cancer was because there were some subjects who died young (from 45 years old). Comparison with the results of a previous study showed that additional hazards produced by diesel engines and explosives increased the mortality from lung cancer. The SMR was higher than 400 (p < 0.001) from 45 years old instead of from 56 years. A relation was found between a decrease in vital capacity (VC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and of FEV1/VC and mortality from all causes and from lung cancer in heavy smokers or men who had worked underground for more than 20 years. Respiratory symptoms were related to mortality from lung cancer among smokers (moderate and heavy) who worked underground for more than 20 years. It is considered that the risk of lung cancer in the Lorraine iron miners was mainly due to dust, diesel engines, and explosives although the role of low exposure to radon daughters could not be totally excluded.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

An analysis of the community periodontal index of treatment needs. Studies on adults in France. V. Presentation of CPITN data in cross-tabulations.

A total of 1005 subjects were examined using the CPITN and DFT indices. CPITN data were modified in their presentation in order to be suitable for cross-tabulation. Two different methods were considered. One, described previously by Roland et al. (1984), classified subjects according to the combination of their highest CPITN score and the mean of the highest scores of every nonedentulous sextant. The other consisted of multiplying the above mentioned mean by the individual's highest CPITN score. A critical analysis of the methodology showed that the two number system developed by Roland et al. (1984) was impractical. The new method provides a linear array of values from 0 to 16. Very little overlapping of values was observed, which means that a relatively precise periodontal condition is characterised by each value. With this transformation the CPITN can be used as an index that quantifies periodontal conditions instead of treatment needs.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Analysis of the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs--study on adults in France. IV. The significance of gingival recession.

A total of 1005 persons were examined using the CPITN criteria which were recorded for every tooth. All the teeth were also measured on both their buccal and lingual aspects to assess the amount of gingival recession. The combination of pocket depth and gingival recession was computed using a specially written program: 93.8 per cent of the teeth had 1 mm or less gingival recession; 82.5 per cent of the teeth with gingival recession did not present pockets; 26.6 per cent of all subjects had at least one tooth with gingival recession of 2 mm or more but only 9.9 per cent had at least one tooth with 2 mm or more gingival recession and a periodontal pocket.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

An analysis of the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs. Studies on adults in France. III--Partial examinations versus full-mouth examinations.

1005 persons were examined using the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs. Presence or absence of every clinical sign was registered for each tooth. A specially written program computed CPITN values corresponding to full mouth or partial examinations. Results compare the prevalence and treatment needs obtained through either full mouth or partial examinations. Cross tabulation analysis of the number of cases detected by full mouth and partial examinations shows differences in detection rates of 23.5 per cent for deep pockets, 17.6 per cent for moderate pockets, 13.4 per cent for calculus, 3.2 per cent for bleeding and 53.0 per cent for health. When determining treatment needs using the partial examination procedure approximations of the number of subjects needing hygiene education and scaling are acceptable but the evaluation of the number of individuals needing complex therapy is greatly underestimated. The CPITN is most accurate using full mouth examinations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

[Evaluation of time needed to treat periodontal conditions classified according to the C.P.I.T.N. index].

A questionnaire was sent to 623 members of the "French Society of Periodontology" with a view to assessing the time necessary to provide instructions concerning hygiene, carry out root planing, surgery on 3.5 to 5.5 mm pockets, surgery on pockets of 6 mm or more, and to ensure maintenance. 282 responses were received from the practitioners and were computer analysed. The time required for instructions concerning hygiene was estimated to be approximately 15 mn. This information was usually repeated 4 times. It was determined that scaling and root planing require an average of 29.19 mn per sextant. The surgical interventions for 3.5 to 5.5 mm and 6 mm or more pockets are estimated to last an average of 77.03 and 107.36 mn respectively. Finally, the assessment of the time necessary for maintenance of the whole mouth was 30 to 60 mn, with an average of 45.11 mn. A quarterly check-up was recommended by 48.9% of the practitioners. The treatment of complex cases requires much more time, and maintenance is indispensable in order to avoid relapse. A plaque control programme undertaken sufficiently early might avoid long treatment stages.

Dental Scaling↗
PubMed1989

Comparison of the dental health status of 8 to 14-year-old children in France and in Jordan, a country of endemic fluorosis.

In the present paper, data obtained from a survey dealing with dental carie, dental fluorosis and gingival health, involving 2618 Jordanian schoolchildren, aged 8 to 14, were compared with data from another survey dealing with 1058 schoolchildren of the same age groups living in a non-fluoridated area in the west of France. As regards dental carie in temporary teeth, up to the age of 12, the dft and dfs scores were higher in France than in Jordan. Over the age of 12, the difference was no longer significant. As regards dental carie in permanent teeth, the data showing that Jordanian children are less subject to caries than the French were very highly significant. Also, it was shown that caries index in girls was higher than in boys. These data were not significant in the French survey, but highly significant in the Jordanian investigation. A possible explanation is that, due to the custom of the country, boys in Jordan drink much more tea (with high fluoride content) than girls. As regards gingival health, an interesting finding was that, compared to the French children, the percentage of Jordanian children presenting gingivitis is remarkably low. The fluoride content of the dental plaque might play a restricting and preventing role.

Adolescent↗