Personal protective equipment utilization and its association with educational status among industry workers in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Ethiopia is experiencing high prevalence of occupational morbidity and disability. One of the main contributing reasons is a low utilization of personal protective equipment (PPE). Previous studies on PPE utilization and association with educational status among industry workers were largely inconsistent. Therefore, this meta-analysis is aimed to pool the magnitude of PPE utilization and its association with educational status among industry workers in Ethiopia. METHOD: A compressive search of international databases and libraries including Scopus, PubMed, MedNar, Embase, MEDLINE, the web of science, Google Scholar, the JBI Library, African Journals Online, and Science direct will be carried out to locate published reports. Two independent reviewers will screen the records for inclusion using standardized JBI tools. Before extracting and synthesizing data, the selected studies will undergo a rigorous critical appraisal. If appropriate, a meta-analysis will be conducted. Cochrane Q-test and I2-test statistics will be used to assess the heterogeneity between studies. If necessary, meta-regression and subgroup analyses will be conducted to explore potential reasons for any inconsistency and heterogeneity. Sensitivity analysis will be performed to assess the effect of a single study on the pooled magnitude estimates. Funnel plots, along with Egger's and Begg's tests, will be used to assess the presence of publication bias. PROSPERO registration number: PROSPERO, CRD42022364562.

Prevalence of occupational respiratory symptoms and associated factors among industry workers in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Occupational respiratory diseases are major global public health problems, particularly for industry workers. Several studies have investigated occupational respiratory symptoms in various parts of Ethiopia. The findings have been inconsistent and inconclusive, and there is no nationally representative data on the subject. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence and factors associated with occupational respiratory symptoms among industry workers in Ethiopia (2010-2022). METHODS: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis framework Guidelines, search was conducted on several international databases including PubMed, CINAHL, African Journals Online, Hinari, Global Health, and Google scholar. The extracted data was analyzed using STATA 14. Random effect model was used to estimate the effect size. Egger regression test and I2 statistics were used to determine potential publication bias and heterogeneity, respectively among the reviewed articles. RESULTS: The meta-analysis included a total of 15 studies with 5,135 participants, revealing a pooled prevalence of 51.6% (95% CI: 43.6-59.6) for occupational respiratory symptoms among industry workers in Ethiopia. The absence of personal protective equipment (OR = 1.97, 95% CI: [1.17-3.32]), lack of occupational health and safety training (OR = 3.04, 95% CI: [2.36-3.93]), previous dust exposure (OR = 3.17, 95% CI: [2.3-4.37]), poor working environment (OR = 2.4, 95% CI: [1.7-3.2]), work experience greater than five years (OR = 4.04, 95% CI: [1.61-10.16]), smoking (OR = 6.91, 95% CI: [2.94-16.2]), and previous respiratory illness (OR = 4.25, 95% CI: [2.44-7.42]) were found to associate with the symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of occupational respiratory symptoms among industry workers in Ethiopia underscores the urgent need for effective interventions. The provision of personal protective equipment and improvement of working environments by the government, industry owners, and other stakeholders are crucial in reducing occupational respiratory symptoms. Additionally, prioritizing occupational health and safety training for industry workers can help prevent and mitigate the impact of occupational respiratory diseases. REGISTRATION: This systematic review has been registered in the International Prospective Registry of Systematic Review (PROSPERO) with a specific registration number CRD42022383745.

PCR-based detection of pathogens in improved water sources: a scoping review protocol of the evidence in low-income and middle-income countries.

INTRODUCTION: Occurrence of diverse human enteric bacterial, viral and protozoal pathogens in improved drinking water because of pathogenic microbial contamination is of increasing public health concern, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Detecting microbial pathogens in water supplies comprehensively and accurately is beneficial to ensure the safety of water in LMICs where water contamination is a major concern. Application of PCR-based methods in detecting the microbial quality of water provides more accurate, sensitive and rapid outcomes over conventional methods of microbial identification and quantification. Therefore, exploring water quality outcomes generated through PCR-based methods is important to better understand the status and monitor progress towards internationally set goals for LMICs. This scoping review aims to map the existing evidence on the magnitude and characteristics of diarrhoeagenic pathogens as detected by PCR-based methods in improved water sources within the context of LMICs. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This study will be undertaken in line with the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for scoping reviews. We will consider the available publications covering PCR-based microbial water quality assessment of improved drinking water sources in LMICs. Searches will be undertaken in PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, JBI, Cochrane Library and Google Scholar. A grey literature search will be conducted in Google and ProQuest. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The College of Natural and Computational Science Institution Review Board of Addis Ababa University gave formal ethical approval to this study protocol. The findings of this study will be disseminated to the concerned body through peer-reviewed publications, presentations and summaries.

Glove performance in a warming climate: The role of glove material and climate on permeation resistance to organophosphate insecticides.

Hands and forearms are the principal sites of dermal exposure to organophosphate insecticides, which makes glove use one of the most important components of an exposure control strategy. However, the selection of suitable gloves depends on issues such as task, type, and concentration of organophosphate as well as cost. In addition, chemical protection performance of gloves may be temperature dependent, which is of increasing concern in a warming climate. Two recommended reusable glove materials (polyvinylchloride and nitrile butadiene rubber) and one single-use glove (nitrile/neoprene) were tested for permeation resistance to actual formulations of organophosphate insecticides with active ingredients dimethoate and malathion. Chemical resistance parameters were measured using American society for testing and materials permeation test cells and compared across glove, organophosphate type, and temperature. The three gloves demonstrated comparable and adequate chemical resistance (less than one µg cm-2 min-1 for up to 8 hr exposure; 25-60 °C) for dilute forms of dimethoate and malathion, used during spraying activities. However, the single-use nitrile/neoprene glove is not designed to fully cover the elbow which limits its suitability. In permeation tests that reflect "worst case" exposure scenario to concentrated (neat) organophosphate formulations, as in mixing/loading tasks, a significant variation in chemical resistance between gloves was observed. While polyvinylchloride offered the maximum resistance, physical degradation of nitrile butadiene rubber after 3 hr of continuous exposure makes it unsuitable for handling neat dimethoate. The single-use nitrile/neoprene glove material had considerably poorer permeation resistance (up to 155-fold greater permeation and 6-fold shorter breakthrough) against neat formulations. Overall, elevated temperature (>40 °C) was shown to result in significantly greater (P < 0.05) cumulative permeation of neat formulation insecticides. This work demonstrates the variation in glove performance and potential for greater exposure risk particularly when mixing concentrated pesticides at elevated temperature conditions such as an occluded human skin or hot greenhouses. Training and guidance on testing, selection, use, and storage of gloves should consider in-use exposure scenarios and temperature-induced reduction in chemical protective performance.

The greenhouse work environment: a modifier of occupational pesticide exposure?

Greenhouses are enclosed structures which have various characteristics that enhance crop productivity, but the implications for workers' pesticide exposure and uptake are not well understood. A narrative literature review was conducted to explore the mechanism/s of interactions between greenhouse characteristics and occupational pesticide exposure. Using a "work", "worker" and "workplace" conceptual framework, the greenhouse environment (hot and humid microclimate, limited space and dense crop arrangements) combines with work characteristics (high work and pesticide use intensity, multi-tasking, predominantly manual spraying techniques and quick reentry to treated farms) to potentially increase occupational pesticide exposure, compared with open field farming. Greenhouse environments, are variable but have been shown to influence pesticide availability, route, pathways and frequency of exposure, deposition and distribution on a worker's body as well as use and performance of exposure control methods. Training programs can emphasize the differences in exposure potential between greenhouse and open field farming. Development of tailored guidelines for exposure control strategies to better suit the level of uniqueness of greenhouse agriculture seems warranted.