Asif Aziz Sabina, Ashraf Saadia, Ashraf Amber.
An observational study of Byssinosis among cotton mill workers.
Pak J Chest Med Jan ;9(3):17-25.

The objective of this study was to identify Byssinosis reported by cotton-Mill workers using shilling`s Criteria and to assess their knowledge and attitude towards cotton dust as a health hazard. This study was conducted in 2 cotton textile mills in District Kohat in July 1999. All the cotton mills in North West Frontier Province registered by A. P T M.A. (All Pakistan Textile Mill Association) were identified. Two mills were randomly selected, both these mills were spinning mills. The total number of cotton mill workers working in these mills were 1000. Only those mill workers who were aged between 20-60 years and had worked for a minimum period of 5 years were included in this study. 250 workers were randomly selected from the employment register, however only 215 consented to participate in this study. Data was collected using (i) questionnaire (ii) pulmonary function tests. It was observed that 15% of the mill workers reported Byssinosis according to shilling`s criteria. The workers consisted of a young population with a mean age of 30 year ± 10.6. Approximately 50% of the workers were illiterate only 30% had a primary education and 24% had a secondary education or higher. Although 67.4% of these workers perceived dust as a hazard only 30% used some form of personal protection. Most of the workers i.e. 67% were non-smokers, 17% were ex-smokers and 16% were current smokers. Around 34% of workers complained of cough and 29% of respiratory symptoms; 36.6% worked in the dusty sector and 61.4% in the non-dusty section. Only half of the working population had worked in the mills for a minimum period of 5 years. The pulmonary function tests of these workers showed that 20% had FEV1 of < 80%; 30% had FVC of < 80% and 4% had FEV1/FVC ratio of <80% whereas 38% had PEFR < 80%. It can be concluded that despite 15% of Byssinosis that was reported by cotton mill workers (Schillings criteria) evidence suggests that the underlying amount of disease could be greater.

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