Prevalence and factors associated with respiratory symptoms among civil construction workers: an occupational health surveillance proposal.

BACKGROUND

The civil construction industry is associated with the some of the highest morbidity and mortality rates in Brazil. Despite their epidemiological relevance, occupational health surveillance actions within the primary care setting still exhibit weaknesses.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the prevalence of and factors associated with respiratory symptoms among civil construction workers in Cuiaba, Mato Grosso, Brazil.

METHODS

Cross-sectional analytic study conducted with 545 civil construction workers to analyze occupational health surveillance actions. Presence of respiratory symptoms was investigated by means of the British Medical Research Council questionnaire on respiratory symptoms. The Mantel-Haenszel χ 2 test was used for bivariate analysis and Poisson regression for multivariate analysis. The significance level was set to 5%.

RESULTS

Most participants were young adults and almost half exhibited respiratory symptoms. The odds to develop cough were higher for the participants exposed to chemicals (PR=1.70; 95%CI 1.22-2.37). The odds to develop wheezing were higher for the participants who had not undergone pre-employment spirometry (PR=1.57; 95%CI 1.17-2.10).

CONCLUSION

Biological monitoring of civil construction workers might be useful to improve occupational health surveillance actions within the primary care setting.