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RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS AND PULMONARY FUNCTIONS AMONG AUTOMOBILE REPAIR WORKERS

2021; Volume: 45; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.21608/ejom.2021.170567

2357-058X

Khashaba EO, Abdel‐Hady El‐Gilany, Albadry AA,

Occupational Health and Safety Research

Introduction: Car repair technicians use chemicals during their work.These chemicals become airborne during its application and can be easily inhaled and cause harm to the respiratory system.Aim of work: The current study aims to describe the magnitude of respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function disorders among automobile repair workers.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was performed on 121 automobile repair workers.The workers completed a predesigned questionnaire to collect socio-demographic data, including occupational history, special habits, and respiratory complaints.The pulmonary function tests were carried out utilizing Spirolab-III from MIR Company with Winspiro Pro software, a calibrated spirometer with a built-in computer program.Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), and the ratio of these variables (FEV1/FVC) was measured as a percentage of normal predicted levels according to age, gender, weight, and height.Results: Dry cough and chest tightness were the most common respiratory symptoms (33.9% and 23.1%, respectively); however, only 4% of the automobile repair workers used respiratory protective equipment.More than one-third (38.8%) of the subjects had pulmonary function (PF) disorders (19% with obstructive patterns and 19.8% with restrictive patterns).Pulmonary function disorders were common among the older (>30 that were equally distributed between obstructive and restrictive impairments.Pulmonary function disorders were common among the older age group, regardless of smoking or a long employment duration.The promotion of workplace safety and the periodic spirometry examination of individuals is required to detect any respiratory changes.