Screening for Small Airway Obstruction in Garment Industry: A Pilot Study

Aim and Background: A noticeable gap in the literature is observed in factors associated with the occurrence of respiratory illness among people working in garment industries. This study aims to investigate whether spirometry screening is warranted for individuals employed within the garment industr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Association of Pulmonologist of Tamil Nadu 2024-09, Vol.7 (3), p.97-99
Main Authors: Pothakamuri, Prasanthi V. R, Chockalingam, Chandrasekar, Santhalingam, Balamurugan, Nagesh, Manikandan, Ramanathan, Manoj
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Airway obstruction (Medicine)
Clothing industry
garment industry
Health aspects
occupational health hazards
pulmonary function testing
Respiratory tract diseases
small airway obstruction
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Aim and Background: A noticeable gap in the literature is observed in factors associated with the occurrence of respiratory illness among people working in garment industries. This study aims to investigate whether spirometry screening is warranted for individuals employed within the garment industry. Subjects and Methods: This is an observational cross-sectional pilot study conducted in asymptomatic workers of various sectors in a garment industry using spirometry to check for the presence of small airway obstruction. Duration of work along with the nature of work was taken into consideration to see if any correlation exists with the small airway obstruction. Results: A random sample of 40 asymptomatic individuals was drawn consisting of 16 males and 24 females with 47.5 of them working for around 5-10 years. Ninety-five percentage showed no evidence of small airway obstruction and only 5 showed small airway obstruction showing that no correlation exists between the duration of work and the development of small airway obstruction in the garment industry. Conclusion: There appears to be no significant link between the duration of employment in the garment industry and the development of small airway obstruction as compared to the textile/cotton industry, yet annual screening could be integrated into routine health assessments. Keywords: Garment industry, occupational health hazards, pulmonary function testing, small airway obstruction
ISSN:2772-6355
2772-6363
DOI:10.4103/japt.japt_15_24