Little research has been done to evaluate the occupational health of electronic waste (e-waste) recycling workers in Latin America. The objective of this study was to complete comprehensive health evaluations on e-waste recycling workers in Chile and to compare those that work in informal (i.e., independent) to those that work in formal (i.e., established company) settings. A cross-sectional study in the summer of 2017 recruited 78 informal recycling workers from two cities and 15 formal e-waste recycling workers from a single recycling facility to assess exposures and health outcomes. Participants completed a health questionnaire and underwent a full health assessment. Herein, only health questionnaire data are reported. Participants were primarily male, middle-aged, married with children, and had worked in e-waste recycling for an average of 12 years. Participants generally reported good health status, and their prevalence of chronic diseases was comparable to national rates. Workers frequently reported exposures to several occupational stressors, including noise and insufficient income, as well as other mental health stressors. Occupational injuries were commonly reported and use of safety equipment was low. Only a few significant differences, generally of a rather small magnitude, were found between informal and formal workers. In conclusion, from survey data, we did not identify major risks to health among e-waste workers, and only minor differences between workers in informal and formal settings.

Background: The concept of Quality of Work Life (QWL) has been built multidimensionally through social reproduction; it is impacted by the perceptions of each individual and by the relationship between workers and the work environment. Objective: to analyze the Work Process and QWL of assisting nurses in public health. Methods: Research in a critical paradigm, descriptive, exploratory with a qualitative approach. The population corresponds to nurses who work in care work. Semi-structured guiding questions were applied and were analyzed with content analysis. Results: seven participants declared female; all Chilean; seven are young adults; six singles; only one has children, and one has a person dependent on her care; six are heads of household, and five receive help with housework. All have a nursing degree, five have a diploma, but none have a postgraduate. The work process has three subcategories: work object, instrument, organization, and work conditions; the QWL category has six subcategories: definition and perception of QWL, QWL potentiating factors, QWL exhausting factors, QWL improvement strategies, the emotional burden associated with QWL, and health problems. Conclusions: In this way, the lifestyle built by the assistance in the health area has repercussions on the quality of life and health in general.

The informal recycling of electronic waste (“e-waste”) is a lucrative business for workers in low- and middle-income countries across the globe. Workers dismantle e-waste to recover valuable materials that can be sold for income. However, workers expose themselves and the surrounding environment to hazardous agents during the process, including toxic metals like lead (Pb). To assess which tools, tasks, and job characteristics result in higher concentrations of urine and blood lead levels among workers, ten random samples of 2 min video clips were analyzed per participant from video recordings of workers at e-waste recycling sites in Thailand and Chile to enumerate potential predictors of lead burden. Blood and urine samples were collected from participants to measure lead concentration. Boosted regression trees (BRTs) were run to determine the relative importance of video-derived work variables and demographics, and their relationship with the urine and blood concentrations. Of 45 variables considered, five job characteristics consisting of close-toed shoes (relative importance of 43.9%), the use of blunt striking instruments (14%), bending the back (5.7%), dismantling random parts (4.4%), and bending the neck (3.5%) were observed to be the most important predictors of urinary Pb levels. A further five job characteristics, including lifting objects 20 pounds (3.2%) were observed to be among the most important factors of blood Pb levels. Overall, our findings indicate ten job characteristics that may strongly influence Pb levels in e-waste recycling workers’ urine and blood.

El manejo inadecuado del dolor en niños continúa siendo un problema. El dolor es un síntoma frecuente en los niños hospitalizados, siendo un gran desafío para enfermería, entendiendo que el dolor infantil en cáncer es multifactorial lo que dificulta su manejo. El objetivo fue conocer la percepción de los profesionales de enfermería frente al manejo del dolor en personas oncológicas pediátricas hospitalizadas durante el segundo semestre del año 2017. Metodología: Esta investigación se enmarca en el paradigma constructivista con enfoque en la teoría fundada. El estudio se realizó en el Servicio de Hemato-Oncología del Hospital Roberto del Río. Participaron seis enfermeras en una entrevista semiestructurada para un posterior análisis de contenido. Resultados: Fueron participantes de sexo femenino, adultos jóvenes y para la mayoría, esta constituye su primera experiencia laboral. El análisis cualitativo permitió estructurar la percepción del manejo del dolor en cuatro categorías con subcategorías: Definición de dolor: Concepto de dolor, Dolor en el servicio, Relevancia del dolor. Valoración del dolor: Subjetividad en la valoración, Aplicación de escalas de valoración, Experiencia personal, Rol familiar en valoración del dolor. Planificación de los cuidados: Rol de la familia en el manejo del dolor, Individualización de los cuidados, Trabajo en Equipo. Tratamiento del dolor: Tratamiento farmacológico, Tratamiento no farmacológico. Conclusiones: Se logró conocer la percepción de las enfermeras sobre el manejo del dolor, comprendiendo los niños y niñas como un ser multifactorial, que requiere una valoración adecuada, integrando el tratamiento farmacológico y no farmacológico para su remisión.

Objetivo. Analizar el efecto de la actividad física (AF) sobre la calidad de vida (CV) en personas de 15 años o más, consi­derando características sociodemográficas, epidemiológicas y psicosociales levantadas en una encuesta nacional. Material y métodos. Estudio cuantitativo-analítico-transversal de­sarrollado en Chile 2020, a partir de estadística descriptiva e inferencial. Resultados. Edad promedio de 49 años, 63% de sexo femenino. Un 15% informó practicar algún deporte o entrenar de manera intensa; 75% tiene una buena o muy buena CV y 53% buena o muy buena CV en salud. Quienes practi­caban algún deporte intenso tenían más posibilidad de tener una buena o muy buena CV (RM=1.58; IC95%= 1.28,1.96) y CV asociada a la salud (RM=1.67; IC95%= 1.40,1.99) en comparación con quienes no practicaban. Conclusiones. La AF es un aspecto que impacta positivamente en la CV de las personas y en la salud general de la población, además de que es económica y fácil de instaurar.

Descriptors: Occupational Health; Quality of Life; Faculty, Nursing; Working Conditions; Work