Occupational Medicine Physician, Public Health Specialist.
Bahçeşehir University, School of Medicine.
Med Lav. 2022 Jun 28;113(3):e2022026. doi: 10.23749/mdl.v113i3.12897.
Work related diseases (WRDs) and occupational diseases (ODs) greatly affect call center operators (CCOs) who experience demanding work expectations and adverse working conditions in their workplace. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sociodemographic and job characteristics of CCOs diagnosed with OD, and to describe the changes in employment status after diagnosis.
This descriptive study is based on the electronic data records of Istanbul Occupational Diseases Hospital available from February 2007 to March 2018.
According to the health board reports, 122 of the 173 (70.5%) CCOs had a confirmed OD diagnosis, 85.2% were females and the mean age was 27.5 years. Vocal cord disorders were the most frequent ODs (64.8%), followed by hearing loss (12.5%), dysphonia (10.2%) and temporomandibular disorders (4.7%). Vocal cord nodules (VCN) were found to be more frequent among females compared to males (92.9% vs 62.4%, p<0.001). Although not statistically significant, the frequency of VCN was also higher in subjects working overtime (14.6% vs 6.3%), having gastroesophageal reflux disease (82.3% vs 73.9%) or thyroid nodules (100% vs 73.7%) and being current smokers (41.7% vs 13.3%). Following the OD diagnosis, 43.8% of the cases were dismissed, 18.7% quit their job, and 9.4% still held the same job position. Only 28.1% changed unit within the workplace.
Including the CCOs who were diagnosed with an OD at a very young age and at an early stage of their working life into vocational rehabilitation programs and employing them under appropriate conditions is essential to proper health and safety protocol.
工作相关疾病（WRD）和职业病（OD）极大地影响了呼叫中心运营商（CCO），他们在工作场所面临苛刻的工作期望和不利的工作条件。本研究的目的是评估被诊断为 OD 的 CCO 的社会人口学和工作特征，并描述诊断后的就业状况变化。
这是一项基于 2007 年 2 月至 2018 年 3 月伊斯坦布尔职业病医院电子数据记录的描述性研究。
根据健康委员会的报告，173 名 CCO 中有 122 人（70.5%）被确诊为 OD，其中 85.2%为女性，平均年龄为 27.5 岁。声带疾病是最常见的 OD（64.8%），其次是听力损失（12.5%）、发音障碍（10.2%）和颞下颌关节紊乱（4.7%）。与男性相比，女性声带小结（VCN）的发生率更高（92.9%比 62.4%，p<0.001）。尽管没有统计学意义，但加班的 VCN 频率也更高（14.6%比 6.3%）、患有胃食管反流病（82.3%比 73.9%）或甲状腺结节（100%比 73.7%）以及当前吸烟者（41.7%比 13.3%）。在被诊断为 OD 后，43.8%的病例被解雇，18.7%辞职，9.4%仍保留原工作岗位。只有 28.1%的人在工作场所更换了工作单位。
将那些在非常年轻和工作生涯早期就被诊断为 OD 的 CCO 纳入职业康复计划，并在适当的条件下雇用他们，对于适当的健康和安全协议至关重要。
