Prevalence of byssinosis and other respiratory problems among textile mill workers in Asaba, Nigeria

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the distribution and severity of byssinosis and other respiratory problems in the different operation sections in a textile mill industry in Asaba. This is a cross-sectional and analytic study in which workers directly exposed to cotton dust are compared with those not directly exposed to cotton dust at one point in time. A total of 735 workers were interviewed and 437 workers had respiratory examinations carried out on them. Byssinosis was diagnosed in 8 out of 405 workers (prevalence of 1.98%) who were not directly exposed to cotton dust, and 21 out of 330 workers (prevalence of 6.36%) who were directly exposed to cotton dust. The difference was found to be statistically significant (chi2 =9.25; df=1; 0.01<p<0.001). The spinning department had the highest prevalence of 11.5%. The prevalence of respiratory abnormalities which did not necessarily meet the criteria for a diagnosis of byssinosis was 4.9% for persistent cough and persistent phlegm; 8.0% for dyspnoea grade 2+; 3.3% for dyspnoea grade 4 and 2.59% for dyspnoea grade 5. Smoking was not found to be associated with the disease as none of the byssinotics were current smokers Byssinosis and other respiratory problems were found to be more prevalent in sections of the textile mill industry that were directly exposed to cotton dust. These findings form a basis for making suitable recommendations for the prevention of byssinosis and respiratory diseases in textile mills in Nigeria.