The Indonesian Journal of Community and Occupational Medicine

Low Back Pain and Associated Factors among Workers in The Blacksmithing Industry in Java, Indonesia

Diana Lutvia — 2026-07-30

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a common musculoskeletal disorder among informal sector workers, including blacksmiths. particularly because of non-ergonomic work positions.
Objective: This study aims to identify the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) and its associated characteristics among blacksmith workers in Mekarmaju Village, Bandung Regency.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 105 blacksmiths with interview, the Bodymap Discomfort questionnaire, the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), physical examination, and measurement of trunk flexion angle using APECS version 8.05.07. In this study, LBP among blacksmith workers was characterized as chronic non-specific low back pain.
Results: LBP prevalence among blacksmiths was 58.1%. Factors significantly associated with LBP included forward-bending posture (p=0.034; aOR 3.7; 95% CI 1.1–12.5), static sitting posture for ≥4 hours (p=0.009; aOR 3.6; 95% CI 1.4–9.4), rest duration <0.5 hours (p=0.006; aOR 7.9; 95% CI 1.8–35.3), and age ≥35 years (p=0.006; aOR 4.6; 95% CI 1.6–13.6). Other occupational and individual factors didn’t have a significant correlation with LBP.
Conclusion: These results indicate the necessity for immediate ergonomic interventions and health assessments at the beginning of employment for preventing LBP among informal sector workers.

Hypertension and Its Association with Noise Exposure among Blacksmith Workers in an Indonesian Village

Christopher F. Jaya — 2026-07-30

Background: Blacksmith workers are at high risk of hypertension due to occupational exposures such as noise, heat, and heavy physical activity. Although noise exposure has been linked to cardiovascular stress through sympathetic activation, evidence regarding its direct association with hypertension in informal workers remains limited.
Objective: To determine the prevalence of hypertension and its associated factors among blacksmith workers in an Indonesian village and to identify whether occupational noise exposure contributes to increased blood pressure.
Methods: This was an analytical observational study with a cross-sectional design involving 107 blacksmith workers. Data were collected through interviews, blood pressure measurements, noise level assessment using a sound level meter, and body mass index (BMI) calculation. Bivariate analysis used Chi-square and Mann–Whitney tests, while multivariate analysis used logistic regression.
Results: The prevalence of hypertension was 34.5%. Bivariate analysis showed significant associations between noise intensity (p=0.008), age (p=0.001), working duration (p=0.042), smoking degree (p=0.002), and BMI (p<0.001) with hypertension, whereas noise type was not significant (p>0.05). In multivariate analysis, only BMI remained significant (aOR=2; 95% CI: 1.3–3.3).
Conclusion: The prevalence of hypertension was 34.5%. BMI is an independent risk factor for hypertension among blacksmith workers. Noise exposure was not significantly associated with increased blood pressure, likely due to confounding effects and non-differential noise types. Interventions should focus on weight management and regular blood pressure monitoring in this worker population.

Association of Shift Working with Mental Emotional Disorder in Oil and Gas Workers with Cardiovascular Risk: A Cross-Sectional Study

Chandra Halim — 2026-07-30

Background: Offshore oil and gas workers face long shifts, unhealthy diets, and low activity, leading to a high cardiovascular disease burden.
These workers were also reported to have high rates of anxiety and mental distress. Understanding the association between these health
challenges will help develop better wellness initiatives and improved emergency mitigation plans.
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association of cardiovascular risks and occupational factors with the prevalence of mental
emotional disorder among workers in an offshore oil and gas company.
Method: This analytical observational cross-sectional study was conducted in an offshore oil and gas population, using two secondary data
sources. Cardiovascular risks were measured using 2025 annual health checkup results, while the MED (mental emotional disorder) was
screened using the Indonesian-validated SRQ-20.
Result: Among 126 subjects, 16.7% experienced mental emotional disorder symptoms, and 73% had abnormal blood pressure. However,
none of the cardiovascular risks were significantly associated with mental emotional disorder. On the contrary, shift work was found to be
the determinant factor associated with mental emotional disorder in this study (p = 0.007, aOR = 0.17)
Conclusion: Non-shift work is a significant independent factor associated with MED. This highlights that psychosocial factors play an
essential role in workers’ well-being.

Program Evaluation of the Monthly Health Review Program: A Strategy to Protect High-Risk Field Workers in the Manufacturing Industry from COVID-19

Melati Yalti Kautsar Syahrial — 2026-07-30

Background: The Indonesian government has issued guidelines for companies during the COVID-19 pandemic to monitor high-risk
employees due to the severe complications associated with COVID-19. The study aims to identify the cause of program issues and determine
potential improvements to achieve the program’s target of a monthly health review, protecting high-risk field workers in the manufacturing
industry from COVID-19.
Methods: A mixed-methods approach combining quantitative and qualitative data was employed, utilizing the Problem-Solving Cycle.
Quantitative data were obtained from document reviews, which revealed the characteristics of the Implementers (n=5) and program participants
(n=58). Qualitative data are collected through in-depth interviews with policy stakeholders, program implementers, and program participants
to identify the causes of program problems. These problems are then prioritized as main issues using the USG method, and alternative solutions
are discussed. The selected solutions are evaluated based on their effectiveness and efficiency using the Reinke method.
Results: On average, 89.58% of participants attended the program throughout the past two years, and only 59.98% of individuals had a
health condition under control. The interviews revealed that the absence of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was the primary cause of
the failure to achieve the attendance and under control health condition targets, which were also impacted by a lack of coordination. Nonadherence to medication contributes to discordant comorbidities.
Conclusion: Creating an SOP with a relevant target program is the primary solution, and internal meetings to create a monthly schedule.
Additionally, the company doctor and program implementers regularly educate program participants to raise awareness of the benefits of
taking the medication regularly.

Understanding Autoplagiarism, Its Relevance and Challenges in Occupational Medicine

Ratih Setiawati — 2026-07-30

Background: Autoplagiarism, also known as self-plagiarism or text recycling, is a form of plagiarism where an individual reuses their own
scientific work without appropriate attribution. In fields like medicine, including occupational medicine, the integrity of scientific publications
is crucial because it influences the quality of the evidence guiding clinical practice and occupational health policies.
Methods: This study is a narrative review that reflects the understanding of self-plagiarism. Articles were obtained through searches on online
databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, ProQuest, and other open sources, published between 2019 and 2026.
Results: Autoplagiarism includes behaviors such as reusing text, duplicate publication, study fragmentation (salami slicing), and publishing
updated work without proper references. Research involving students and medical professionals indicates that there is still a limited
understanding of this particular issue. The advancement of digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) introduces new challenges for
defining autoplagiarism as well as opportunities for identifying it. Ethically, autoplagiarism remains disapproved by standards such as the
Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, but it remains relatively unregulated
legally in many regions. However, there are multiple approaches involving multiple parties, even also by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI)
technology, to minimize and avoid such plagiarism.
Conclusions: Despite the ongoing debate, autoplagiarism is considered a serious form of ethical and scientific misconduct in medical research.
Understanding the concept and consequences of autoplagiarism is important when publishing manuscripts to actively avoid misconduct,
whether intentional or not. An attempt to improve academic awareness, alongside active collaboration among institutions, publishers,
regulatory bodies, and individual researchers, is important for tackling these challenges.

Autoplagiarism and Its Impact on Maritime Occupational Health

Jimy Fran — 2026-07-30

Introduction: Scientific integrity violations in maritime occupational health research have escalated alarmingly, yet remain systematically
underexamined. This study aimed to map patterns, triggering factors, and ethical implications of autoplagiarism within maritime worker
research publications.
Method: A narrative review was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar (2015–2025), yielding eight
synthesized articles.
Results: Three dominant autoplagiarism manifestations were identified: redundant publication, text recycling, and salami publication, driven
by scarce primary data accessibility, absence of domain-specific publication ethics guidelines, publish-or-perish pressures, and homogeneous
researcher communities undermining peer-review.
Conclusions: These practices systematically distort the evidence base informing IMO and ILO maritime health policies while impeding
genuine intervention innovation for globally vulnerable seafaring populations. Comprehensive reform across three levels is urgently warranted:
mandatory prior publication disclosure by journal editors, ethics literacy institutionalization in postgraduate curricula, and establishment of
an open maritime research data registry to structurally eliminate dataset recycling incentives.