EYE DISCOMFORT, HEADACHE AND BACK PAIN AMONG WOMEN IN GUATEMALA USING OPEN FIRES FOR COOKING AND HEATING

Abstract

ISEE-168 Introduction: Indoor air pollution from biomass combustion in open fires affects rural populations in developing countries all over the world. We will, in the first randomised control trial for air pollution ever done with healthy populations, study the effect of installing improved chimney stoves (planchas) on women’s health. The plancha significantly reduces indoor air pollution levels. A positive side effect for the women may be the change in working posture from use of an open fire on the floor to an upright position while cooking. Here we present preliminary results from the baseline assessment of self-reported eye discomfort, headaches, and back pain. Methods: This study is conducted in a Mayan Indian community in the Guatemalan highlands and includes only households using an open woodfire for cooking and spaceheating. It comprises 504 women [mean age 27.7 years (sd 7.5), 32.5% pregnant] visited in their homes by trained native-speaking fieldworkers. As part of a more comprehensive interview, questions were asked about eye discomfort, headache and back pain. In addition, the women had their carbon monoxide (CO) levels in exhaled breath determined as a proxy for recent air pollution exposure. Results: In total 63.3% of the women had experienced headache during the last month. Of these, 29.6% had symptoms every day, and 32.3% reported their headache to be strong (Table 1). Sore or watery eyes during the last month was reported by 41% of the women, and 56% of these were bothered every day (Table 2). The risk of eye discomfort increased with increasing levels of CO in exhaled breath, while no such relation was found for headache (Table 3). Back pain during the last month was reported by 48.6% of the women (Table 4), pregnant women having higher prevalence (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.0–2.2). Of those with back pain, 30 (12.3%) could not perform daily duties due to the pain. A number of factors were reported to make back pain worse, most important being washing clothes (55.9%) and cooking (28.6%) (Table 4).Table 1: Self-reported headache during the last month.Table 2: Self-reported prevalence of eye discomfort during the last month.Table 3: Determinants of eye discomfort and headache.Table 4: Self-reported prevalence of back pain during the last month.Discussion: Headache and eye discomfort were common symptoms in this female population exposed to high levels of indoor air pollution. Our results suggest that eye discomfort was linked to personal exposure levels. Back pain was common and reported to be associated with cooking by more than a quarter of the affected women. An improved stove has the potential to prevent back pain in these women.