Knowledge, attitude and practices regarding cotton dust exposure among textile workers in Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

Objective: To determine the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) regarding cotton dust exposure among workers in textile industry of Karachi. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study involving 300 male workers, from seven textile mills in Karachi, conducted from September–December 2015. A 55-item structured questionnaire was developed and pretested, to determine knowledge (31 items), attitude (10 items) and practice (14 items) scores. Independent sample t-test and ANOVA tests were applied to calculate mean differences in KAP scores for categorical variables; while Pearson correlation was used for continuous variables. Results: Mean age of the participants was 31(±9.5) years with majority belonging to Urdu-speaking ethnicity (39%; n=118). About 90% (n=269) of the workers had secondary or less education. Higher educational status, dyeing and spinning sections of the mill and type of mill were found to be strong predictors of high KAP scores (p Conclusion: We found higher KAP scores with better education and those working in dyeing or spinning section. However, increased working hours and days per week had a negative effect on workers KAP scores. This study documents poor KAP of textile workers and calls for provision of occupational health and safety trainings.