Department of Physiology, South Calcutta Girls' College, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India.
Int Health. 2019 Jul 1;11(4):250-257. doi: 10.1093/inthealth/ihy071.
The purpose of this study was to describe the health hazards among child labourers in brickfields, and to assess occupational health problems, together with physiological and respiratory stress, compared with child control subjects.
A cross-sectional study was conducted on 112 child brickfield workers and 120 control subjects, and a modified Nordic Questionnaire was applied to assess the discomfort felt among both groups of workers. Physiological assessment of the workload was carried out by the measurement of heart rate, blood pressure and spirometry of the workers.
Child brickfield workers suffer from pain, especially in the lower back (97%), shoulder (88%), hands (82%), wrist (76%), neck (73%) and ankle (71%). The post-activity heart rate of the child brickfield workers was 166.5 beats/min, whereas the systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 132.2 and 67.2 mm/Hg, respectively. The forced vital capacity value of child brickfield workers was 2.04, and in the case of the controls it was 2.18, which was significantly different. The forced expiratory volumes in 1 s of experimental and control subjects were 1.82 and 1.92, respectively. The peak expiratory flow rate was significantly different between the two groups.
Most of the brick-making activities were strenuous ones that affected the children. The cardiovascular and respiratory health of the child brickfield workers has changed markedly due to strenuous activity. The child brickfield workers also experienced other occupational health problems and severe musculoskeletal pain.
本研究旨在描述砖窑童工的健康危害，并评估职业健康问题，以及与对照组相比，生理和呼吸应激情况。
对 112 名砖窑童工和 120 名对照组进行了横断面研究，并应用改良的北欧问卷评估两组工人的不适感。通过测量工人的心率、血压和肺活量来评估工作量的生理评估。
砖窑童工遭受疼痛，尤其是下背部（97%）、肩部（88%）、手部（82%）、手腕（76%）、颈部（73%）和脚踝（71%）。砖窑童工活动后的心率为 166.5 次/分，收缩压和舒张压分别为 132.2 和 67.2mmHg。砖窑童工的用力肺活量值为 2.04，而对照组为 2.18，差异显著。实验组和对照组的 1 秒用力呼气量分别为 1.82 和 1.92。两组的最大呼气流量存在显著差异。
大多数制砖活动都很费力，影响了儿童。由于剧烈活动，儿童砖窑工人的心血管和呼吸系统健康发生了明显变化。砖窑童工还经历了其他职业健康问题和严重的肌肉骨骼疼痛。
