Symptoms of Neurotoxicity among Carpenters Living in Rural Ecuador: A Population-based Study (The Atahualpa Project).

BACKGROUND

There is no information on the prevalence of symptoms related to neurotoxicity among carpenters working in underserved populations. To assess the magnitude of the problem, we conducted a population-based study in Atahualpa, a rural Ecuadorian village, where most men work as carpenters under poor safety conditions.

METHODS

All men aged 40-75 years living in Atahualpa were identified during a door-to-door survey and evaluated with a general demographic questionnaire, the Q16 questionnaire, the depression axis of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21, and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).

RESULTS

Among 230 participants, 63% were carpenters. Seventy participants (30%) had a positive Q16 questionnaire (≥6 points), which suggested neurotoxicity. In a logistic regression model adjusted for age, education, alcohol intake, symptoms of depression, and MoCA score, the proportion of Q16 positive persons was 39.1% for carpenters and 15.9% for noncarpenters (odds ratio: 3.53, 95% confidence interval: 1.75-7.15, < 0.0001). In a generalized linear model, adjusted mean scores in the Q16 questionnaire were 4.9 for carpenters and 3.6 for noncarpenters (β: 1.285, standard error: 0.347, < 0.0001). There was no correlation between scores in the Q16 questionnaire and the MoCA (Pearson correlation coefficient = -0.02), and the only significant covariate in the multivariate linear model was age, with every 10 years of age difference contributing 0.64 points in the Q16 questionnaire.

CONCLUSION

This study shows a high prevalence of symptoms associated with neurotoxicity among carpenters after adjusting for a number of confounders. Long-term exposure to toxic solvents is the most likely explanation to this finding.