Registered health problems and demographic profile of integrated textile factory workers in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Background Textile and garment factories are growing in low and middle-income countries as worldwide demand for inexpensive clothing increases each year. These integrated textile and garment production factories are often built-in areas with few workplaces and environmental regulations, and employees can be regularly exposed to workplace hazards with little regulatory oversight. Consequently, workers’ health may be significantly affected due to long term exposure to hazards. This study describes registered health problems and their association to work-related and personal factors among workers in integrated textile factories in Ethiopia. Methods Institution-based cross-sectional study design was employed for this analysis. A one-year recording of worker’s clinical diagnoses (between March 2016 and February 2017) was gathered from the factory clinics of three integrated textile factories. Clinical diagnosis data was obtained as factory workers visited the clinics if feeling unwell. Sociodemographic characteristics and work-related information were obtained from the factory’s human resource departments. The sociodemographic and clinical diagnosis statuses of 7992 workers were analyzed. The association between the registered diagnoses and workplace factors (work in textile production, garment production and support process) and personal factors (age, sex and educational status) were studied using logistic regression analysis. Results The average employee age and years of service were 40 years and 11 years respectively. 60% of workers were females, comprising of 4778 women. 66% of all workers (5276) had 27,320 clinical diagnoses. In total, this caused 16,993 absent working days due to sick leave. Respiratory diseases (34%) and musculoskeletal disorders (29%) were the most prevalent diagnoses, while bodily injuries were the cause of most work absences. Work department, sex and educational status are variables that were most significantly associated with higher prevalence of disease groups. Conclusions About two-thirds of the integrated textile factory workers were diagnosed with different types of disease. The textile and garment production department workers were affected at a greater rate than the support process workers, indicating that some diseases may be related to workplace exposure. Further study should investigate rare chronic diseases such as cancer, heart diseases, renal diseases and diabetes.

Diseases Registered Among Integrated Textile Factory Workers in Ethiopia: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Textile and garment factories are growing in low and middle-income countries; integrated textile and garment production factories are developing, where workers are exposed to dust and dangerous, noisy machines in the work environment. Hence, workers' health might be affected negatively due to exposure to different occupational hazards. However, the health condition of workers in this sector is not adequately investigated. The aim of this study is to describe the registered diagnoses of health problems and their association to work-related and personal factors among workers in integrated textile factories in Ethiopia. Methods: A one year recording of worker’s clinical diagnoses (between March 2016 and February 2017) was gathered from the respective factory clinics in three integrated textile factories. Sociodemographic characteristics and work-related information is obtained from the factory’s human resource departments. The association between the registered diagnoses and work-related factors (work in textile production, garment production and support department) and personal factors (age, gender and educational status) were studied using logistic regression analyses.Results: The socio-demographic and clinical diagnosis statuses of 7992 workers are analyzed. The average of workers' age and years of service is 40 years and 11 years, respectively. Majority 4778(60%) of workers are females; a total of 5276 (66%) of workers had 27320 clinical diagnoses; in total this causes 16993 working days lost due to sick leave. Respiratory diseases (34%) and musculoskeletal disorders (29%) were the most prevalent diagnoses, while injuries cause most of the days of work absence. Work department, gender and educational status are the variables that are significantly associated with several disease groups.Conclusions: About two-thirds of the integrated textile factory workers were diagnosed with different types of diseases. The textile and garment production department workers were more affected than the support department workers, indicating that some of the diseases are related to work in these departments. Further study should investigate the occurrence of rare chronic diseases such as cancer, heart diseases, renal diseases and diabetics in relation with workers exposure profile.

Near vision correction and quality of life among textile factory workers in Durban

Background: Uncorrected near vision impairment affects the performance of near vision tasks and activities for an estimated 410 million people worldwide. Once normal vision becomes blurred or impaired, the ordinary and simple daily routines of individuals become difficult; often resulting in frustration and irritation, which is consequently reflected in their quality of life.Aim: We investigated the change of vision-related quality of life (VRQoL) following near correction among textile factory workers in South Africa.Methods: Presbyopic subjects who were 40 years and older with no other eye conditions were provided near spectacle correction. We interviewed subjects to ascertain their VRQoL scores using the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire, pre-treatment and 6 months after the provision of near corrections.Setting: The study was conducted among the textile factory workers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.Results: A total of 423 textile factory workers were followed up from seven textile factories in Durban. The overall increase in VRQoL scores of 21.9 (95% CI 16.7–27) was significant (p < 0.01). This translates to a 36.5% (95% CI 30.6–42.4) change in VRQoL. The increase was highest among participants of African origin 25.1 (95% CI 21.14–29.1), males 18.8 (95% CI 12.6–27.2), among those who had completed primary school 35.8 (95% CI 21.7–49.9) and among participants with other responsibilities (ironing and quality assurance) 21.9 (95% CI 16.7–27).Conclusion: Correcting near vision impairment improved the VRQoL scores of textile factory workers. The results showed that VRQoL scores increased significantly across levels of education and categories of responsibility