Relationship of individual and work related factors with obstructive type lung function disorder of underground coal miners: A spirometry study

In this study, an attempt is made to correlate the presence or absence of FEV1 < 80% predicted as measured by spirometry, with a number of individual and work related factors. This is a cross-sectional study involving 341 workers of an underground coal mine situated in the southern part of India. The data used in this investigation were collected from the Periodical Medical Examination (PME) center of the case study mine and through a questionnaire survey. During questionnaire survey, face-to-face interviews were taken so that workers did not face any difficulty in responding to the questionnaire items. Data were analyzed through univariate and multivariate approaches. The univariate analysis includes simple logistic regression modeling for the calculation of crude (unadjusted) odds ratio. The multivariate analysis includes multiple logistic regression modeling as the logistic regression model provides relationship among the dependent and independent variables. Multiple logistic regression analysis confirmed the association of underground exposure (ORa: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.07-1.31), smoking habit (ORa: 8.19, 95% CI: 2.83-23.80), and work location (ORa: 5.19, 1.90-14.16) with obstructive type lung disorder.   Key words:  Dust, coal workers pneumoconiosis (CWP), underground mining, smoking habit, lung disorder.