TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Assessment of the effect of welding fumes on welders' cognitive failure and health-related quality of life
JO  - International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics
A1  - Rahmani, Abdolrasoul
A1  - Golbabaei, Farideh
A1  - Dehghan, Somayeh Farhang
A1  - Mazlomi, Adel
A1  - Akbarzadeh, Arash
SP  - 426
EP  - 432
VL  - 22
IS  - 3
N2  - INTRODUCTION: This study examined whether cognitive symptoms and health-related quality of life can be affected by welding fume exposure. <br><br>METHOD: Participants consisted of welders (n = 40) and welder assistants (n = 25) from welding units as the exposed group, and office workers (n = 44) as the non-exposed group. All participants were studied using ambient air monitoring and two types of questionnaires: the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) and the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). <br><br>RESULTS: Welders and welder assistants were exposed to higher concentrations of all airborne metals than office employees, except for aluminum and chromium (p < 0.05). Mean (95% confidence interval) CFQ score was higher in welders (26.42 (12.74)) compared with welder assistants (22.68 (14.37)) and the non-exposed group (21.38 (8.75)), although these differences were not statistically significant. Mean total score of the SF-36 significantly differed among the three groups (p < 0.05) and welders had the lowest score (M (SD) = 54.84 (17.88)). The relationships between total CFQ score and the measured concentration of nickel at peak work rate was significant for welders. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Cognitive symptoms and health-related quality of life were not related to the measures of welding fume exposure and further research should be performed to find other influencing factors.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1080-3548
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2016.1164499
ID  - ref1
ER  -