Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

LIVE: Thursday 2nd May 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)

Quality sleep is essential for health. But what happens to our brains when sleep patterns are disturbed? Join our experts to explore the interplay between sleep disruption and neurological diseases, and the questions that you need to be asking your patients to help you prevent the harmful effects of sleep deprivation.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology
Published in: Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research

Cotton dust exposure and self-reported respiratory symptoms among textile factory workers in Northwest Ethiopia: a comparative cross-sectional study

Authors: Sintayehu Daba Wami, Daniel Haile Chercos, Awrajaw Dessie, Zemichael Gizaw, Atalay Getachew, Tesfaye Hambisa, Tadese Guadu, Dawit Getachew, Bikes Destaw

Published in: Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology | Issue 1/2018

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Cotton dust induced respiratory disorders are dramatically increased over the globe, especially the problem is serious in developing countries. Respiratory symptoms, such as cough, phlegm, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, chronic bronchitis, and byssinosis are common among workers exposed to cotton dust. However, in Ethiopia, the magnitude of the problem is not well known and information is limited about the risk factors. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and associated factors.

Methods

A Comparative cross-sectional study design was employed. A total of 413 (276 exposed and 137 unexposed) participants were included in the study. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select exposed and unexposed groups to cotton dust respectively. Multivariable binary logistic regression analyses was performed to identify variables associated with respiratory symptoms and adjusted odds ratio (AOR) was used to determine the strength of associations. Significance level was obtained at 95% confidence interval (CI) and p-value ≤0.05.

Results

The prevalence of self-reported respiratory symptoms was 47.8% (95% CI: 41.3, 53.7%) and 15.3% (95% CI: 9.6, 22.3%) among exposed and control groups respectively. Sex (AOR = 2.1, 95% CI: 1.29, 3.45), service year (AOR = 2.38, 95% CI: 1.19, 4.71) and ventilation (AOR = 2.4, 95% CI: 1.17, 4.91) were factors significantly associated with respiratory symptoms. Furthermore, working department such as; ginning (AOR = 5.1, 95% CI: 2.13, 12.16), spinning (AOR = 4.96, 95% CI: 2.18, 11.29), weaving (AOR = 5.9, 95% CI: 2.46, 14.27) and blowing working departments (AOR = 5.14, 95% CI: 1.4, 18.94) were significantly associated with respiratory disorders.

Conclusions

The prevalence of self-reported respiratory symptoms was higher among workers exposed to cotton dust than unexposed workers. Sex, service year, working department and work unit ventilation were predictor variables for respiratory symptoms. Thus, reducing exposure to dust, adequate ventilation and improving the hygiene of working departments are needed to reduce respiratory symptoms.
Literature
1.
2.
Driscoll T, Nelson DI, Steenland K, Leigh J, Concha-Barrientos M, Fingerhut M, et al. The global burden of non-malignant respiratory disease due to occupational airborne exposures. Am J Ind Med. 2005;48(6):432–45.CrossRefPubMed
3.
Altin R, Ozkurt S, Fisekci F, Cimrin A, Zencir M, Sevinc C. Prevalence of byssinosis and respiratory symptoms among cotton mill workers. Respiration. 2002;69(1):52–6.CrossRefPubMed
4.
Rom W. Byssinosis and other diseases of textile workers. In: Ron WN, editor. Environmental and occupational medicine. Philadelphia: Lippincott-Raven; 1998.
5.
6.
Nagoda M, Okpapi J, Babashani M. Assessment of respiratory symptoms and lung function among textile workers at Kano textile Mills, Kano, Nigeria. Niger J Clin Pract. 2012;15(4):373–9.CrossRefPubMed
7.
Nafees AA, Fatmi Z, Kadir MM, Sathiakumar N. Pattern and predictors for respiratory illnesses and symptoms and lung function among textile workers in Karachi, Pakistan. Occup Environ Med. 2013;70(2):99–107.CrossRefPubMed
8.
Wang X, Zhang H, Sun B, Dai H, Hang J, Eisen E, et al. A 20-year follow-up study on chronic respiratory effects of exposure to cotton dust. Eur Respir J. 2005;26(5):881–6.CrossRefPubMed
9.
10.
Hinson A, Schlünssen V, Agodokpessi G, Sigsgaards T, Fayomi B. The prevalence of byssinosis among cotton workers in the north of Benin. Int J Occup Environ Med. 2014;5(4):194–200.PubMed
11.
Subbarao P, Mandhane PJ, Sears MR. Asthma: epidemiology, etiology and risk factors. Can Med Assoc J. 2009;181(9):E181–E90.CrossRef
12.
Meo SA, Al-Drees AM. Lung function among non-smoking wheat flour mill workers. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2005;18(3):259–64.PubMed
13.
Sudha B, Meenaxi T. Occupational health hazards in textiles industry. Asian J Home Sci. 2014;9(1):267–71.
14.
Haglind P, Lundholm M, Rylander R. Prevalence of byssinosis in Swedish cotton mills. Occup Environ Med. 1981;38(2):138–43.CrossRef
15.
Kim J-O, Traore M, Warfield C. The textile and apparel industry in developing countries. Text Prog. 2006;38(3):1–64.CrossRef
16.
Kumie A, Amera T, Berhane K, Samet J, Hundal N, Michael FG, et al. Occupational health and safety in Ethiopia: a review of situational analysis and needs assessment. Ethiop J Health Dev. 2016;30(1):17–27.PubMedPubMedCentral
17.
Singh MB, Fotedar R, Lakshminarayana J. Occupational morbidities and their association with nutrition and environmental factors among textile Workers of Desert Areas of Rajasthan, India. J Occup Health. 2005;47:371–7.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Saadia SAKA. Pulmonary function studies in Pakistani cotton ginners. Pak J Physiol. 2006;2(1):1-4.
19.
Christiani D, Eisen E, Wegman D, Ye T, Lu P, Gong Z, et al. Respiratory disease in cotton textile workers in the People's Republic of China. I. Respiratory symptoms. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1986;12(1):40–5.CrossRefPubMed
20.
Lai PS, Hang JQ, Zhang FY, Lin X, Zheng BY, Dai HL, et al. Gender differences in the effect of occupational endotoxin exposure on impaired lung function and death: the shanghai textile worker study. Occup Environ Med. 2014;71(2):118–25. https://​doi.​org/​10.​1136/​oemed-2013-101676.
21.
22.
Saha A, Doctor PB, Bhagia LJ, Majumdar PK, Patel BD. A study of respiratory function among the workers engaged in ginning processes. Indian J Occup Environ Med. 2014;18(3):118.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
23.
24.
Phakthongsuk P, Sangsupawanich P, Musigsan A, Thammakumpee G. Work-related respiratory symptoms among cotton-fabric sewing workers. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2007;20(1):17–24.CrossRefPubMed
25.
Tageldin MA, Gomaa AA, Hegazy EAM. Respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function among cotton textile workers at Misr company for spinning and weaving EL-Mahalla, Egypt. Egypt J Chest Dis Tuberc. 2017;66(2):369–76.CrossRef
26.
Kumar RS. Cotton dust-impact on human health and environment in the textile industry. Text Mag Madras. 2008;49(3):55.
27.
Tanzil S, Nafees A. Low prevalence of asthma among textile workers in Karachi, Pakistan. J Pak Med Assoc. 2015;65(8):869–74.PubMed
28.
29.
Anyfantis ID, Rachiotis G, Hadjichristodoulou C, Gourgoulianis KI. Respiratory symptoms and lung function among Greek cotton industry workers: a cross-sectional study. Int J Occup Environ Med. 2017;8(1):32–8.CrossRefPubMed
30.
Kennedy SM, Christiani DC, Eisen EA, Wegman DH, Greaves IA, Olenchock SA, et al. Cotton dust and endotoxin exposure-response relationships in cotton textile workers 1–4. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1987;135(1):194–200.PubMed
31.
Jannet J, Jeyanthi G. Pulmonary health status of ginning factory women laborers in Tirupur, India. Indian J Occup Environ Med. 2006;10(3):116.CrossRef
32.
33.
Bentayeb M, Norback D, Bednarek M, Bernard A, Cai G, Cerrai S, et al. Indoor air quality, ventilation and respiratory health in elderly residents living in nursing homes in Europe. Eur Respir J. 2015;45(5):1228–38.CrossRefPubMed
Metadata
Title
Cotton dust exposure and self-reported respiratory symptoms among textile factory workers in Northwest Ethiopia: a comparative cross-sectional study
Authors
Sintayehu Daba Wami
Daniel Haile Chercos
Awrajaw Dessie
Zemichael Gizaw
Atalay Getachew
Tesfaye Hambisa
Tadese Guadu
Dawit Getachew
Bikes Destaw
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1745-6673
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12995-018-0194-9

Other articles of this Issue 1/2018

Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology 1/2018 Go to the issue

Research

Noise exposure and auditory thresholds of military musicians: a follow up study

Research

Evaluating a framework for tuberculosis screening among healthcare workers in clinical settings, Inner Mongolia, China

Research

Employment status and changes in working career in relation to asthma: a cross-sectional survey

Research

Willingness to commute among future physicians: a multicenter cross-sectional survey of German medical students

Research

Simultaneous measurement of formic acid, methanol and ethanol in vitreous and blood samples of postmortem by headspace GC-FID

Research

Sulfur dioxide exposure reduces the quantity of CD19+ cells and causes nasal epithelial injury in rats