Affiliation:
1. Postgraduate, Institute of Community Medicine, Madras Medical College.
2. Professor, Institute of Community Medicine, Madras Medical College.
Abstract
Textile-sector is the second highest employer in India with Tamilnadu alone employing 10,18,961 workers [PEDXCIL].
Globally, Incidence of dust related disease among textile workers is nearly 40%. But most studies focus on workers in
Power-loom Industries, and not on workers in home-based power-loom. Hence the aim was to assess the respiratory health status of home-based
power-loom workers and their association with working environment quality. This cross-sectional study was conducted from August to
September 2021 among adults engaged in home-based power-loom in Tamil Nadu using an interviewer administered semi structured
questionnaire and the data was analyzed using SPSS-16. More than half (67.1%) had poor respiratory health with signicant (p<0.05) association
with factors such as age, Education, Income/month, Cross-ventilation, number of power-looms operational/room and years of exposure. Hence,
respiratory protection programme and dust-reduction measures should be reinforced by raising knowledge about the need of cross-ventilation and
regular monitoring of indoor-air quality.
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