Premium
Respiratory disease in a textile factory in nicaragua
Author(s) -
Velazquez Aurora M.,
Christiani David C.,
McConnell Rob,
Eisen Ellen A.,
Wilcox Margaret
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.4700200206
Subject(s) - byssinosis , medicine , occupational lung disease , environmental health , occupational disease , phlegm , pneumoconiosis , pulmonary function testing , odds ratio , demography , occupational exposure , pathology , alternative medicine , traditional chinese medicine , sociology
This is the first epidemiologic study conducted in a textile mill in Nicaragua using techniques and diagnostic criteria similar to those used in the United States and England. The prevalence of byssinosis and nonspecific respiratory symptoms were studied in 194 workers in a cotton mill inmanagua. Limited environmental sampling, performed using a vertical elutriator in yarn preparation and weaving areas, indicated that exposures were similar to those reported in other parts of the developing world. A modified translated version of the Medical Research Council respiratory questionnaire was administered. Pulmonary function tests were performed before and after the Monday workshift to measure across‐shift change in ventilatory function. The prevalence of byssinosis was 5.9% and all the cases occurred among exposed women. Nonspecific respiratory symptoms were also more prevalent among exposed workers. After adjusting for age, gender, smoking habit, and work tenure, the exposure odds ratios for usual cough and usual phlegm were 3.3 and 2.2, respectively. The association between exposure and across‐shift decrement in FEV, was not significant. Byssinotic workers, however, had greater decrements in FEV 1 % than those without byssinosis: 5.5% versus 1.8%. A consistent gender effect was observed in which both exposed and unexposed women were found to have greater across‐shift decrements in FEV, than men. The gender difference existed among long‐term workers as well as workers who had been employed less than 2 years. Results are related to cotton dust exposure, as has been documented elsewhere. The poorer health status of the women in this study population deserves follow‐up.