[Evaluation of bone mineral density in carpet weavers in Tabriz]

Y., SalekZamani; M., Radmanesh; K., Shakouri; F., Eslamian; M., Akhbarzadeh; H., Fallahpour; Y., Hushyar

Background: carpet hand weaving is a common practice in countries such as Iran. In Iran, hand-woven carpets are produced nearly in home-based workshops categorized as informal small-scale industry, often organized around families and done in homes. It is estimated that near 2.5 million people are directly involved in carpet weaving as their profession or a hobby. Long hours of static work with awkward posture at traditionally designed looms can potentially cause high abnormality in bone mineral density [BMD]. This study aims at evaluating BMD in carpet weavers in Tabriz in 2007

Methods and Materials: in a cross-sectional study, 80 professional carpet weavers aged 20-60 years, with at least 5 years of experience, not less than 5 hours a day for at least 3 days a week were recruited in Tabriz Imam Reza during 17 months. Patients with any history of disease or condition with possible effect on BMD were excluded. The DXA method was employed for bone densitometry at three sites; pelvic bone, wrist and lumbar vertebrae. Presence of at least one abnormal result put the patient in osteopenia [-2.5 Results: eighty carpet weavers, 48 females and 32 males with a mean age of 37.81 +/- 9.79 years were enrolled. Frequency of osteopenia and osteoporosis was 55 and 17.5% in the studied population respectively. The according rates were 68.8 and 21.9 percent for males and 45.8 and 14.6 percent for females, separately. The rates of osteopenia and osteoporosis were 50 and zero percent in cases aged 20-29 years; 60 and 10 percent in cases aged 30-39 years, 57.9 and 31.6 percent in cases aged 40-49 years; and 64.2 and 38.5 percent in cases aged 50-60 years, respectively. The rate of osteoporosis was significantly higher in males. This predominance remained after adjusting for age and duration of carpet weaving

Conclusions: comparing the results of current study with the rates of osteopenia and osteoporosis among normal population present that the rates of these two entities were significantly higher in carpet weavers. So interventions should be planned for preventing BMD abnormalities in these people