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Background: Globally, coal mining is one of the dangerous occupations which leads to hazardous effects to coal mine workers due to production and dispersion of coal dust. These workers face more survival and working pressure than normal workers. Hypertension, diabetes and chronic respiratory symptoms are more prevalent in coal miners than normal population. This study was conducted with the objective to know the working pattern of coal mine workers and to know their habits and morbidity pattern.Methods: A descriptive study was conducted in one of the coal mines during October 2016 to December 2017. 846 coal mine workers were included in the study.Results: 480 (56.74%) workers belong to the age group of 50-60 yrs. Present study includes 696 underground mine workers and 150 surface workers. 222 (26.23%) workers had a habit of smoking, alcohol consumption is seen in 96 (11.35%) of surface workers and 480 (56.73%) of underground workers. In present study prevalence of hypertension is 19.15%, prevalence of diabetes is 16.31% and the prevalence of symptoms of chronic respiratory disease is 28.38%.Conclusions: The current study has shown a higher prevalence of diabetes than national prevalence and showed a lesser prevalence of hypertension than national prevalence which may be probably due to other causes rather than occupational stress alone. Morbidity is more than the normal population hence health education is done among workers regarding chronic diseases and their risk factors.
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Objective@#To explore the association between dust exposure and the incidence of hypertension in male coal miners.@*Methods@#Using the method of retrospective cohort study,a hypertension cohort of colliery in Henan Province was established in January 2006. From 2006 to 2017,all the male coal miners in a colliery who were exposed to dust were selected into the exposure group including tunneling, mining,auxiliary and combining workers, and workers from administrative logistics departments who were not exposed to dust were selected into the control group. The eligible participants should satisfy following conditions: working more than one year, with clear and complete record of occupation change, and with complete archives and reliable diagnosis of occupational health surveillance. The exclusion criteria of participants were with hypertension at the baseline of study or with heart,liver,kidney diseases and malignant tumors. A total of 12 647 participants were enrolled in this study (11 663 in the exposure group and 984 in the control group). The follow-up period was from January 2006 to December 2017,with a total follow-up of 89 259.75 person-years. Questionnaires and physical measurements were used to collect general demographic characteristics, occupational exposure history and occupational health surveillance data of all participants. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to estimate the association between the dust exposure and the incidence of hypertension.@*Results@#During the follow-up period, 2 549 new-onset hypertension patients were identified with an incidence density of hypertension about 2 855.71 per 100 000 person-years. The incidence density of hypertension was 2 967.58 per 100 000 person-years in the exposure group, and 1 643.85 per 100 000 person-years in the control group. The results of multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model showed that after the adjustment of marriage, age, smoking, alcohol drinking and body mass index,the risk of hypertension was higher in the exposure group compared with the control group (HR=1.692, 95%CI: 1.410-2.032). Further analysis showed that compared with workers from administrative logistics departments,the risk of hypertension in tunneling,mining and auxiliary working was 1.629(1.345-1.973),1.677(1.374-2.046) and 1.782(1.475-2.151),respectively.@*Conclusion@#Dust exposure may increase the risk of hypertension in male coal miners.
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Objective To examine the reliability and validity of the Connor-Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC) among coal miners,and explore factors structure and essence. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted among 731 coal miners by using CD-RISC,Maslach burnout inventory( MBI-GS) and general self-efficacy scale( GSES). Results Twenty-five items of CD-RISC were retained based on the re-sults of exploratory factor analysis,including three factors of stress resistance,sense of competence and optim-ism. CD-RISC factors were significantly correlated with each other,and the correlation coefficient ranged from 0. 623 to 0. 777(P<0. 01). There was also a significant correlation between CD-RISC factors and total score, and the correlation coefficient ranged from 0. 837 to 0. 939(P<0. 01). The fitting index of confirmatory factor analysis were χ2/df=3. 76<5,GFI=0. 884,CFI=0. 909,AGFI=0. 862>0. 8,RMSEA=0. 065,proved that the measured data fitted well with the hypothesized three-factor model. Internal consistency reliability coeffi-cient of the total scale,stress resistance,sense of competence and optimism factors were 0. 942,0. 920,0. 868 and 0. 765,repectively. The CD-RISC scale was positively correlated with GSES and negatively correlated with MBI-GS and its factors named emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Conclusion The CD-RISC of 25 items for coal miners possesses good reliability and validity.
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Objective To evaluate the application value of low-dose CT (LDCT) in physical examination for coal miners with different exposure time.Methods The consecutive three-year imaging data of 972 coal miners with over 20-year exposure were retrospectively reviewed.All miners were divided into 3 groups according to different exposure time,including 317 cases with less than 10 years,299 cases with 10-20 years and 356 cases with more than 20 years.All subjects underwent LDCT examination every year during three consecutive years.Results Baseline LDCT:As the exposure time was prolonged (with less than 10 years,10-20 years and more than 20 years),the number of coal miners has increased with non-calcified pulmonary nodules,interstitial pulmonary lesions,clinically cured or stable stage of pulmonary tuberculosis,pulmonary calcification and pulmonary fibrous stripes,but without statistically significant difference.The detection rates of lung bullae,aorta and coronary artery sclerosis were also increased mildly,with the prolonged exposure time.There was no significant correlation between exposure time and detection rates of bronchiectasis,pulmonary inflammatory lesions,lymph node enlargement or calcification,pleural lesions.The exposure time of 6 cases of malignant nodules and 2 cases of active tuberculosis was more than 10 years.During a two-year follow-up using LDCT scan,there were no significant changes in most of intrapulmonary,pleural and mediastinal lesions.Neither were in pulmonary nodules less than or equal to 4 mm.Three pulmonary nodules with 4-8 mm diameters were enlarged.Most of the inflammatory lesions have changed in size.Conclusion The LDCT scan has a certain value for chest physical examination of the coal miners with different exposure time.It is very necessary to screen the high-risk population of coal miners with exposure time of more than 10 years using LDCT.LDCT reexamination has significant value for pulmonary nodules and inflammatory lesions with diameter of more than 4 mm.Most of intrapulmonary,pleural and mediastinal lesions have no obvious change in the short term,and make an annual reexamination unnecessary,neither does a negative baseline LDCT.
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OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between occupational stress and occupational musculoskeletal disorders( OMD) in coal miners. METHODS: A total of 362 coal miners were selected through cluster sampling method. The prevalence of OMD was investigated by the Nordic Standardized Questionnaires for Musculoskeletal Disorders( Chinese version). The Job Content Questionnaire and Effort Reward Imbalance Questionnaire were used to assess the occupational stress and depression of coal miners was determined by the Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. RESULTS: The prevalence of OMD in coal miners was 63. 5%. There were 45. 9%( 166/362) of coal miners suffered from occupational stress with job demand-control model imbalance and 62. 4%( 226/362) of coal miners have occupational stress with effortreward model imbalance. The multiple logistic non-conditional regression analysis showed that the longer service length with exposure to occupational hazard factors,the more working days per week,the lower job contents and technical decisionmaking power,the higher the occupational stress with effort-reward imbalance,and the higher the depression and the higher the risk of OMD( P < 0. 05). CONCLUSION: Occupational stress and depression are both risk factors of OMD in coal miners.
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OBJECTIVES: This study was done to examine the risk factors for the dyspnea of retired coal miners in Korea. METHODS: Eight hundred and sixteen male workers who took the health examination for retired coal miners in the T hospital were recruited, in this study and their health examination records were employed to assess the risk factors for dyspnea. Both univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the relationship between known risk factors and the presence of dyspnea. RESULTS: Variables in the univariate analysis, which showed a significant relationship with dyspnea were age(>or=60 years) (OR : 2.20, 95% CI : 1.63-3.00), work duration(>or=2 0 years) (OR : 1.67, 95% CI : 1.24-2.25), profusion of small opacity(>or=1/0) (OR : 1.81. 95% CI : 1.30-2.51), large opacity(>or=A) (OR : 2.19, 95% CI : 1.30-3.70), and the ratio of the distance between the start of the first division of the right and left main pulmonary arteries divided by the transverse diameter of the thorax (cor pulmonale index)(>or=0 . 3 6 ) (OR : 2.37, 95% CI : 1.77-3.17). The multivariate analysis using logistic regression analysis showed age(>or=60 years)(OR : 1.69, 95% CI : 1.28-2.21), smoking amount(>or=1 filters/day) (OR : 1.61, 95% CI : 1.06-2.45), no experience of having quit smoking (OR : 1.40 95% CI : 1.06-1.84), and the cor pulmonale index(>or=0.36)(OR : 1.75, 95% CI : 1.34-2.29) were associated with an increased risk for dyspnea. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggests that the cor pulmonale index is the most significant risk factor in predicting dyspnea in retired coal miners. In addition, this study also revealed that workers aged 60 years or more or smokers were more likely to experience dyspnea as compared to those aged 60 years or less and nonsmokers.
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Humans , Male , Coal , Dyspnea , Korea , Logistic Models , Multivariate Analysis , Pulmonary Artery , Pulmonary Heart Disease , Risk Factors , Smoke , Smoking , ThoraxABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The incidence rate of pneumoconiosis among retired coal miners was studied at Taebackchungang hospital. METHODS: Newly developed pneumoconiosis0=1/0) cases were gathered from films of ex-coal miners who were diagnosed as normal at the previous examination after retirement. RESULTS: 228 exminers were confirmed as normal at the previous examination after retirement. 37 ex-miners were diagnosed as pneumoconiosis (equal or greater than 1/0) at the next examination. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence rate was 29.5/1000 person-year. The incidence was calculated by the examined year. In 1995, 1996, 1997, the incidence rates were 104. 8, 37. 1, 14.1 per 1000 person-year respectively. There was no development of pneumoconiosis among retired coal miners who retired more than 20 years ago or who worked less than 10 years.
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Coal , Incidence , Pneumoconiosis , RetirementABSTRACT
This study was planned in order to investigate coal miners' recognition and attitude toward pneumoconiosis, and its relationship with related behavior for prevention of pneumoconiosis. Study object was coal miners in Kangneung area, sampled by multistage random proportional sampling, Sample size was 13% of total coal miners in Kangneung area. The results were divided into three parts: (1) descriptive results presented percent distribution, (2) reclassification of knowledge, experiences, and attitude by factor analysis, (3) prediction of health behavior for prevention of pneumoconiosis by discriminant analysis. Knowledge, experiences, and attitude toward pneumoconiosis were classified into nine factors. Knowledge about pneumoconiosis were broken down to two factors and attitude to four factors, and valence, perceived severity were classified into each one factor. According to demographic, socioeconomic characteristics, and factors of knowledge, experiences, attitude about pneumoconiosis, about 62% of behavior of wearing respiratory protector was correctly discriminated. And by the same methods, about 81% of behavior of hospital visit at respiratory symptoms; cough, sputum, chest pain etc. was discriminated correctly.