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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Jong Park, MD, Chul Gab Lee, MD, Ki Soon Kim, MD, and So Yeon Ryu, MD. College of Medicine, Chosun University, Department of Preventive Medicine, Gwangju, South Korea, 713-661-1343, jpark@sph.uth.tmc.edu
This study was performed to find the prevalence and the associated factors of respiratory symptoms and the medical utilization for respiratory disease among a petrochemical industrial estate workers. An analysis was made toward the data of medical insurance benefits matched with the questionnaire survey of 4,831 male workers, who were registered continuously from 1994 to 1995 at medical insurance cooperations for industrial workers. The prevalence for respiratory symptoms investigated by the questionnaire survey was calculated as cough was 2.4%, phlegm was 8.3%, wheezing was 2.8% and shortness of breath was 8.1%. By multiple logistic regression , the prevalence of respiratory symptoms were associated with wearing the protective device, exposure status of toxic materials which affect respiratory system and size of the company and the association was statistically significant after controlling various factors like income level, educational level, smoking history, indirect smoking, past history of asthma or allergy or bronchitis, and health perception(p<0.05). Medical utilization for respiratory disease of workers associated with predisposing factors(age, marriage status, family number, regular exercise, smoking, indirect smoking), enabling factors(income, the size of company, exposed number of toxic materials, duration of work, and accessibility) and need factors(history of asthma and presence of the symptom of respiratory system like shortness of breath)(p<0.05). In conclusion, the occupational factors of workers in a petrochemical industrial complex associated with the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and the medical utilization for respiratory diseases were associated with shortness of breath symptom and other various factors.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.