Current issues of protection of reproductive health in population residing in cold climate regions (literature review)

Abstract

Relevance. 40% of the total number of employees are constantly or periodically engaged in work in open areas and in unheated industrial premises. Given that more than 70% of the country’s territory is in cold climate areas, the tasks of preserving their health are a priority. The original articles on the assessment of adverse effects of natural and climatic factors in cold climate regions on the reproductive health of the population, presented in databases and information systems: RSCI, CyberLeninka, Scopus, Web of Science and meeting the criteria for compliance with the stated purpose and quality of research, were analyzed. A significant part of reproductive losses has been proven to be related to the exposure to a number of occupational risk factors; however, workers’ engagement in outdoor operations with a higher risk of cold stress in combination with other factors remains one of the least studied problems of preventive medicine. Considering more than 70% of the country’s territory to be represented by cold climate regions, where up to 40% of the total workforce are permanently or periodically engaged in outdoor works and in unheated industrial premises, the protection of their health is a national priority. A total of two hundred three full-text publications were identified by targeted search, of which 132 fully met these inclusion criteria. Conclusion. As a result of a systematic review of published works available in national and international bibliographic indexing systems, including the results of our own research, engagement in work operations in cold climate regions has been proved to be associated with the risk of functional overstrain of most human life-supporting systems leading to health impairments. To date, there have been identified a significant number of occupational risk factors including chemical, physical, biological, psycho-emotional and ergonomic ones that might induce adverse effects on the reproductive health of women and men such as acute and chronic damage to reproductive functions, fetal development impairment and increased early perinatal mortality. At the same time, the role of cooling weather and climatic factors in the occurrence of such disorders, primarily among workers who systematically perform work operations outside heated industrial premises in cold climate regions there is least studied.