Morbidity patterns among current and ex-mine workers in Karauli district of Rajasthan, India

BACKGROUND: The mining industry has many hazards to which workers are exposed. Despite that, study on health hazards among mine workers are limited in India. Also, there are negligible studies on ex-miners in India. Thus, the present study tried to explore the current levels of self-reported morbidity among mine workers and ex-mine workers in the Karauli district of Rajasthan, India. METHODS: This study was a comparative cross-sectional study conducted in the Karauli district of Rajasthan, India. A total of 218 mine workers, 137 ex-mine workers, and 203 non-mine workers were interviewed. An interview-led questionnaire recording the presence of self-reported health problems and demographic information was administered. Self-reported symptoms were classified according to the categories defined in the operational definitions. RESULTS: Ex-mine workers moved away from mining due to respiratory problems (31%), weakness (24%), and TB (20%). Mine workers and ex-miners have significantly increased prevalence of respiratory-related symptoms and injury at the workplace, vision, and oral health problems than the non-mine workers. The adjusted odds of morbidity conditions such as cough up with blood, shortness of breath, and wheezing were significantly higher among ex-miners than current miners. CONCLUSION: This study identified respiratory symptoms, injury, vision loss, hearing loss, and poor oral health for both mine and ex-mine workers. The higher self-reported health problems for symptoms like cough up with blood, shortness of breath, and wheezing were found among ex-miners than current mine workers.