Dust Storms; The Case of Children’s Health and School Attendance

Abstract

Background: Dust storms affect a wide range of arid or semi-arid countries every year and thus impose a threatening health risk to the affected people whether young or old. Children are regarded as a high-risk group in public health concerns. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between occurrence of dust storms on schoolchildren’s health and school absenteeism. Methods: The study was performed from October 2016 to June 2017 in Ahvaz. Fifty primary schools with 4200 pupils in total participated in the study. Data was collected by a questionnaire. Results: The highest number of absenteeism happened after the first dust storm with 885 absent students from a total of 3486 (25.36%), with mostly one day absence duration. The difference between absenteeism rates of boys and girls in different schools was evaluated. The results showed a significant difference between boys and girls in both kinds of schools and amounts of absence days. Conclusions: It can be concluded that dust storms and exposure to high levels of particulate matter can increase the frequency of respiratory symptoms and illnesses in schoolchildren and consequently more children cannot attend school.