ADVERSE DERMATOLOGIC AND RESPIRATORY HEALTH PROBLEMS AMONG STREET SWEEPER’S WORKERS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY
O, H., H, A., E, A., N, F. (2019). ADVERSE DERMATOLOGIC AND RESPIRATORY HEALTH PROBLEMS AMONG STREET SWEEPER’S WORKERS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY. EKB Journal Management System, 43(1), 111-127. doi: 10.21608/ejom.2019.25126
Hassan O; Abed H; Araby E; Fayed N. "ADVERSE DERMATOLOGIC AND RESPIRATORY HEALTH PROBLEMS AMONG STREET SWEEPER’S WORKERS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY". EKB Journal Management System, 43, 1, 2019, 111-127. doi: 10.21608/ejom.2019.25126
O, H., H, A., E, A., N, F. (2019). 'ADVERSE DERMATOLOGIC AND RESPIRATORY HEALTH PROBLEMS AMONG STREET SWEEPER’S WORKERS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY', EKB Journal Management System, 43(1), pp. 111-127. doi: 10.21608/ejom.2019.25126
O, H., H, A., E, A., N, F. ADVERSE DERMATOLOGIC AND RESPIRATORY HEALTH PROBLEMS AMONG STREET SWEEPER’S WORKERS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY. EKB Journal Management System, 2019; 43(1): 111-127. doi: 10.21608/ejom.2019.25126

ADVERSE DERMATOLOGIC AND RESPIRATORY HEALTH PROBLEMS AMONG STREET SWEEPER’S WORKERS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Egyptian Journal of Occupational Medicine
Article 7, Volume 43, Issue 1, January 2019, Page 111-127  XML PDF (437.04 K)
Document Type: Original Article
DOI: 10.21608/ejom.2019.25126
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Authors
Hassan O1; Abed H1; Araby E1; Fayed N2
1Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt.
2Department of Dermatology and Andrology, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt.
Abstract
Introduction: Street Sweeping plays an important role in maintaining the health and hygiene in cities. This job exposes street sweepers to a variety of risk factors that leads to multiple health hazards such as: respiratory system problems, cardiovascular degeneration, musculoskeletal disorders, infections, skin and gastrointestinal problems. Aim of work: To study the prevalence of some dermatological and respiratory manifestations among street sweepers and its relevance with occupational exposure. Materials and methods: The present study is a comparative cross-sectional study, conducted at Benha city, Qualubya Governorate, Egypt. Data was collected over a period of 4 months. Cluster random sampling was used to choose the study groups as we choose 5 quarters out from 16 quarters in Benha city by simple random sample. The total number of participant enrolled in this study was 200 individuals (126 street sweepers as a study group and 74 administrative staff as a control), all were non-smokers, matched for duration of work and age. Results: Significant higher percentage of skin disorders was detected among street sweepers in comparison to administrative staff: hair loss (19 % vs. 6.8%), scabies (15.1% vs. 4%), frunculosis (18.3% vs. 4.1%), contact dermatitis (17.5% vs. 2.7%), infected wound (11 % vs. 1.4 %), and varicosities (25.4% vs. 6.8%) (p< 0.01). Pulmonary function tests of street sweepers showed significant decline of (FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC ratio) in comparison to the control group. Our study revealed strong association between working for 10 years or more and development of chronic cough, phlegm (p value < 0.01), wheezes and feeling of shortness of breath (p value < 0.05). More than fifty percent of street sweepers were not wearing personal protective clothes at all. Conclusion: Exposure of sweeper’s workers to many health hazards and poor use of protective equipments are associated with skin and respiratory diseases.
Keywords
Street sweeper’s workers; Skin diseases; Respiratory diseases; Protective equipments and Benha city
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