Objectives Heavy lifting is associated with musculoskeletal disorders but it is unclear whether it is related to acute reversible effects or to chronic effects from cumulated exposure. The aim of this study was to examine whether musculoskeletal symptoms in Danish airport baggage handlers were associated with their seniority as baggage handler, indicating chronic effects from cumulated workload. Methods We established a group of baggage handlers employed at Copenhagen Airport during the period 1983–2012 (n=3092) and a reference group of men in other unskilled occupations with less heavy work (n=2478). Data regarding work history, lifestyle and musculoskeletal symptoms were collected using a self-administered questionnaire (response rate 70.1% among baggage handlers and 68.8% among the reference group). Results The ORs of self-reported musculoskeletal symptoms during the last 12 months in the neck/upper back, lower back, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees were significantly higher in baggage handlers than in the reference group. These differences were explained by significant linear effects of baggage handler seniority for six anatomical regions. Adjustment for age, body mass index, smoking and leisure-time physical activity did not change these results. The findings were stable over age strata and among present and former baggage handlers. Conclusions The risk of musculoskeletal symptoms in six anatomical regions increased with increasing seniority as a baggage handler. This is consistent with the assumption that cumulated heavy lifting may cause chronic or long-lasting musculoskeletal symptoms. However, we cannot exclude that other factors related to baggage handler seniority may explain some of the associations.

Stoma bag filter-related issues, such as ballooning (the bag filling with gas), remain highly prevalent among users. The full-circle filter was purposely designed to reduce ballooning through the inclusion of a unique, full-circle pre-filter. Two similar randomized crossover trials were conducted to compare the performance of the full-circle filter with a dual filter in adults with a colostomy (n = 20) or an ileostomy (n = 20). The frequency of ballooning was significantly lower with the full-circle filter versus the dual filter in participants with a colostomy (p < 0.0007) and in participants with an ileostomy (p < 0.0001). No significant differences were observed in the frequency of other issues (pancaking, odor problems, and ostomy solution discretion) between the filters. On average, participants with an ileostomy wore ostomy solutions with the full-circle filter for 3.3 h longer than ostomy solutions with the dual filter (p < 0.0001); wear-time in users with a colostomy was comparable between the filters. Considering the lack of published research on stoma bag filters and the high prevalence of filter-related issues, these data provide important information for health care practitioners who support people living with a stoma.

Purpose: We aimed to investigate the influence of wearing a ballistic vest on physical performance in police officers. Methods: We performed a cross-over study to investigate the influence of wearing a ballistic vest on reaction and response time, lumbar muscle endurance and police vehicle entry and exit times. Reaction and response time was based on a perturbation setup where the officers’ pelvises were fixed and EMG of lumbar and abdominal muscles was recorded. We used a modified Biering–Sørensen test to assess the lumbar muscle endurance and measured duration of entry and exit maneuvers in a variety of standard-issue police cars. Results: There was a significant difference of 24% in the lumbar muscle endurance test (no vest: 151 s vs. vest: 117 s), and the police officers experienced higher physical fatigue after the test when wearing a vest. Furthermore, officers took longer to both enter and exit police cars when wearing a vest (range: 0.24–0.56 s) depending on the model of the vehicle. There were no significant differences in reaction and response times between the test conditions (with/without vest). Discussion and Conclusion: Wearing of a ballistic vest significantly influenced the speed of movement in entry and exit of police cars and lumbar muscle endurance, although it does not seem to affect reaction or response times. The ballistic vest seems to impair performance of tasks that require maximal effort, which calls for better designs of such vests.

Introduction Outdoor air pollution is associated with exacerbations of obstructive lung diseases, but the role of air pollution in the incidence of these diseases is unclear. At Copenhagen Airport a high number of particles have been measured especially on the apron at the terminal gates where many persons work with ground handling services. Aims To assess whether long-term occupational exposure to outdoor air pollution at an airport was associated with the incidence of obstructive lung disease. Methods A cohort of 6,629 male airport employees and a reference group of 62,546 men was followed from 1990 to 2012 in the Danish National Patient Register that covers all contacts to hospitals. The primary exposure measure was cumulative years of work at the airport weighted with the proportion of time spent on the apron (‘apron-years’). The outcome was a first time registration in the Patient Register of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma or all obstructive lung diseases together. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) were estimated from Poisson models adjusting for age, education, and calendar year. Results The reference group had a higher incidence rate than the group of exposed airport employees of COPD (IRR = 1.50; 95% CI: 1.21–1.85) and all obstructive lung diseases (IRR = 1.20; 1.03–1.39), but the same incidence rate of asthma (0.99; 0.81–1.20). In analyses of the internal dose-response relationship among the airport employees, we found no association between cumulated ‘apron-years’ and incidence of COPD. Regarding asthma, airport employees with 7+ apron-years had lower incidence rate (IRR = 0.57; 0.34–0.95) than airport employees with 0.1–3 years ‘apron-years’. However, we found no linear effect of cumulated ‘apron-years’ on asthma (IRR = 0.97; 0.94–1.01). Conclusions This large register-based cohort study found no evidence of associations between cumulative occupational exposure to air pollution and incidence of obstructive lung disease.