| Title: | Restrictive Pattern of Pulmonary Symptoms among Photocopy and Printing Workers: A Retrospective Cohort Study |
| Author(s): | Karimi A; Eslamizad S; Mostafaee M; Momeni Z; Ziafati F; Mohammadi S; |
| Address: | "Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. alikarimi57@gmail.com. Food Safety Research Center, Shahid-Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 2228-7809 (Electronic) 2228-7795 (Print) 2228-7795 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "BACKGROUND: According to the growth of photocopier usage in workplaces, the potential risk of occupational exposure to the airborne chemicals has been raised up. Hence, monitoring the photocopy worker's respiratory functions seems to be necessary. We aimed to evaluate the respiratory health on photocopy and printing workers so that a reliable description can be made about their occupational hygiene. METHODS: This study was performed in Shiraz, southwest Iran in 2014 and a group of 150 photocopy and printing workers were surveyed as exposed group in addition to a group of 114 office staff as unexposed group. The respiratory standard questionnaire was used to evaluate the prevalence of respiratory symptoms among the selected staff. Pulmonary function indexes including VC, FVC, FEV1 and the FEV1/FVC ratio were calculated. Finally, t-test, Chi Square and multiple logistic regressions were conducted. RESULTS: VC, FVC and FEV1 in photocopy and printing workers were lower than the unexposed group of which these differences for FVC and FEV1 were statistically significant (P<0.05). Moreover, the prevalence of all respiratory symptoms, except the shortness of breath, in exposed group was more than the unexposed group and the prevalence of coughing and wheezing was statistically significant (P<0.05). There was a significant difference in respiratory symptoms (cough and wheezing) between two groups after controlling for confounding variables, OR: 2.61 (95% CI: 1.21, 5.62) and 2.92 (95% CI: 1.25, 6.84), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of excess respiratory symptoms along with pattern of pulmonary restrictive sings in photocopy and printing workers revealed that the workplace conditions can result in occupational respiratory diseases" |
| Keywords: | "Adult Air Pollutants, Occupational/*adverse effects/analysis Cough/chemically induced/epidemiology Humans Industry Iran Occupational Diseases/*chemically induced/epidemiology Occupational Exposure/*adverse effects/analysis Prevalence *Printing Respiration;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineKarimi, Ali Eslamizad, Samira Mostafaee, Maryam Momeni, Zahra Ziafati, Fateme Mohammadi, Shokoofe eng Iran 2016/08/09 J Res Health Sci. 2016 Spring; 16(2):81-4" |
