The month of Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, and, according to the Islamic tradition, it coincides with the month when the Noble Koran/Qur’an began to be revealed. In recent years, concerns about the potentially negative health effects of Ramadan fasting and the risks of work-related injuries have increased in Western European (EURO) countries. In the present study, we performed a retrospective database-based analysis assessing the impact of Ramadan fasting on occupational injuries (OIs) in North-Eastern Italy among migrant workers from the Eastern-Mediterranean Region (EMRO). Our results suggest that EMRO workers exhibit a significantly increased risk for OIs during Ramadan in periods characterized by heat-waves, while their frequency was somehow reduced for days associated with Ramadan characterized by increased but not extreme temperatures. However, these results may be attributable to an explanatory causation in the specific differences between EMRO and EURO workers in the job tasks performed at the workplace. Not coincidentally, no significant differences were found regarding industrial settings, mechanisms of OIs and final prognosis. Despite the obvious practical implications for health decision-and policy-makers, due to the limitations of the present investigation, further studies are warranted. © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Occupational injuries Circadian rhythm and biological clock Ramadan fasting Migrant worker

Mediterranean Region heat Fasting Islam disease activity health risk Mediterranean environment Islamism Hot Temperature human epidemiology injury middle aged Aged diet restriction Databases, Factual factual database ethnology prognosis migrant worker Humans workplace occupational accident Occupational Injuries male female Aged, 80 and over occupational exposure very elderly risk factor Risk Factors Ramadan fasting extreme environment database Article Retrospective Studies Southern Europe major clinical study adult migration Italy Transients and Migrants retrospective study clinical decision making job performance Circadian Rhythm