Study of the effects of chronic diseases and injuries on industrial workforce in Alexandria

ABSTRACT

A study was conducted to find the magnitude of physical impairments and disabilities resulting from chronic diseases and injuries in relation to claims of inability to carry on work within a year duration. The population chosen for this study was the industrial workers presented to the job turn-over Comittee at Alexandria Health Insurance within a period of one year [3600 workers]. They presented with different degrees of physical defects and disability resulting from either chronic diseases or injuries. Collected data included personal informations, occupational history and clinical diagnosis. Evaluation of these disabilities was done through history, examination and laboratory investigations. Determination of the degree of disability and limitation was based on the measurement of function in respect to general capacity. Re-placement of the disabled worker was done according to the health and physical defects. Workers were grouped into industrial sectors according to the Occupational Health Committee at Alexandria Health Insurance [1984]. Results obtained in this study revealed that 767 workers [21.31%] of those presented to the Committee were shifted to light work, 7.17% of them were female workers. This proportion of disabled workers in respect to all industrial sectors was significantly higher than overall proportion for all sectors except the Petroleum, spinning and weaving and related industries. The mean age of these workers was 43.722 +/- 8.758 years and the mean work duration was 18.846 +/- 8.876 years. Causes of these physical impairments were mainly vision defects [25.29%], 1ocomotor system impairment [19.29%], respiratory diseases [18.77%] and heart diseases [17.86%]