Cancer awareness and perceived barriers to health seeking in a rural population.

BACKGROUND: Low cancer awareness may lead to delays in cancer screening behaviour and diagnosis. OBJECTIVES: We set out to assess public awareness of cancer and perceived barriers to seeking help among the rural population of Murewa district in a cross-sectional survey of 384 conveniently selected respondents. METHODS: A self-administered and interviewer guided questionnaires were developed with the guide of the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) used in public awareness studies. RESULTS: Awareness of the occurrence of cancer in the population was high with 90.1% responding that they had heard about cancer. However, 60.6% of the respondents could not explain what cancer is. An association was identified between educational level and awareness on the existence of cancer in the population (p = 0.001). Age was also associated with awareness of the existence of cancer in the population (p < 0.001). Level of education was also associated with awareness on types of cancers with breast cancer (p = 0.0014), and prostate cancer (p = 0.001). Barriers to health (help) seeking included low levels of awareness of the availability of cancer screening and not being able to afford treatment services. Other barriers to help seeking included fear of screening and the costs of screening services. Unavailability of preventive and curative services for cancer at primary care level was another barrier to help seeking. CONCLUSION: There is therefore an increasing need for health promotional interventions to raise public awareness of cancer and to create supportive environments for cancer prevention, screening, early detection and treatment.

Work related musculoskeletal disorders among farm workers: a case study of an agricultural college in Zimbabwe.

INTRODUCTION: Farming is a physically laborious occupation and farm workers are at risk of developing musculoskeletal complaints. OBJECTIVE: To determine the work related musculoskeletal complaints among farm workers at an agricultural college in Zimbabwe. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using a sample size of 30 farm workers. Convenience sampling was used to select participants. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to assess the occupational hazards and the occurrence of musculoskeletal symptoms among farm workers. STATA version 13 was used for data analysis. Fishers' exact test was used to determine associations between agricultural activities and reported occurrence of musculoskeletal complaints. RESULTS: The lower back was the most frequently affected body site. Commonly performed activities included working prolonged periods in the same posture and working prolonged periods squatting or kneeling. There were significant associations between performing overhead activities (p = 0.029), working with the back bent (p = 0.007) and pushing or pulling heavy objects (p=0.014) with the occurrence of musculoskeletal complaints. CONCLUSION: Farm workers at Chibero College of Agriculture are exposed to a variety of occupational hazards, therefore a need for intervention to protect them from musculoskeletal complaints. Improvement in farm work practices through ergonomic training might help reduce musculoskeletal complaints.

Prevalence of noise induced hearing loss among employees at a mining industry in Zimbabwe.

BACKGROUND: Noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) is within the top five occupational illnesses in Zimbabwe. Workers at a mining company complained about loss of hearing at the mine clinic. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of NIHL among employees at the Mine. METHODS: We conducted a descriptive cross sectional study at the mine. Workers were proportionally selected to represent all the mine departments or working areas. We measured noise levels at various mine sites, conducted a walk-through survey to observe noise related worker practices and conducted audiometric testing. RESULTS: Mean age for workers was 34.8±7.6 years and the mean duration of exposure to noise was 7.5±1.2 years. All workers could define noise. Ninety (53%) workers attributed NIHL to noisy work environment. Excessive noise levels were in Plant Processing (94 dBA), Underground Mining (102 dBA) and (Underground Workshop (103 dBA). Sixty two (36.7%) workers had NIHL. NIHL increased as a function of age (chi square=30.99 df=3 p<0.01) and was associated with work area (chi square=24.96 df=5 p<0.01). Observed workers took heed of noise warnings. There was no documented hearing conservation program at the mine. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of NIHL of 37% is high. Age and work area were associated with NIHL. Studies reported that age tends to distort the relationship between noise exposure and NIHL. Mine management should institute a hearing conservation program to protect employees against hazardous noise. Management may meanwhile use administrative controls and adhere to permissible exposure limits according to the noise regulations.