Screening for respiratory morbidities and obstructive lung function among municipal waste handlers in Puducherry: A community-based cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Waste management is a societal problem because of its environmental impact and public health implications. Solid waste handlers have a high incidence of occupational health issues, with respiratory morbidities being the most common. Aim: To assess the prevalence of respiratory morbidities, obstructive lung pattern and its associated factors among municipal solid waste management workers in Puducherry. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This community-based cross-sectional study was carried out in May and June 2018 among 264 solid waste management workers selected by simple random sampling. They underwent a semi-structured interview schedule capturing their sociodemographic characteristics, work profile, presence of respiratory symptoms, and morbidities followed by lung function tests using a portable spirometer. The data was entered using Epidata entry client and analyzed using SPSS (v16). RESULTS: The mean age of the workers was 47.1 (±8.87) years. The majority were females (85.6%), working as waste collectors (86%) on day duty (73.5%). More than two in five workers had either respiratory morbidity (42.8%) or obstructive lung pattern (44%). Higher age, occupation as waste collector, night shift duty, not using face mask on duty, and not receiving training on waste handling were the factors significantly associated with the respiratory morbidities and obstructive lung function. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of respiratory morbidities and obstructive lung disease were high among municipal solid waste handlers. Measures are needed to improve the work environment of waste handlers by ensuring the availability of protective gears and adequate training on work handling based on ergonomic principles.