Physical symptoms and mental health status in deep underground miners: A cross-sectional study

The aim of the present study was to reveal the physical symptom changes and their correlations with mental health status in deep underground miners. A total of 286 deep underground miners completed a cross-sectional questionnaire study at China Pingmei Shenma mine complex. The questionnaire included sociodemographics, self-reported physical symptoms, underground adverse environmental factors, and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). Five environmental parameters of 1 deep mine were also measured. Data from 266 valid questionnaires were analyzed. The 3 most frequent complaints about underground adverse conditions were moisture [62.03% (165/266)], dim light [45.86% (122/266)], and high temperature [42.11% (112/266)]. Fatigue [40.22% (107/266)], hearing loss [34.96% (93/266)], and tinnitus [31.58% (84/266)] were reported to be the three most common physical symptoms. Insomnia was reported in 204 participants (76.69%) mainly due to the difficulty of falling asleep [42.35% (84/204)] and dreams [39.70% (81/204)]. Mean scores of SCL-90-R subscales including somatization, anxiety, phobic anxiety, psychoticism, and paranoid ideation were elevated compared to Chinese norms, while there was diminished interpersonal sensitivity. Univariate analyses indicated that the 3 most common physical symptoms were associated with poorer SCL-90-R scores. With increasing depth below ground, air pressure, relative humidity, CO(2) concentration and temperature rose, while total gamma radiation dose-rate decreased. The physical and mental health status of deep underground miners was poorer than the general Chinese male population. Some adverse environmental factors were identified that may have influenced health status. Measures are suggested to improve the deep underground working environment.