Zamani Ahmadreza, Khanjani Narges, Bagheri Hosseinabadi Majid, Ranjbar Homghavandi Malihe, Miri Roholah
Vice-chancellery of Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
Neurology Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
Int J Occup Saf Ergon. 2021 Jun;27(2):497-503. doi: 10.1080/10803548.2019.1582853. Epub 2019 Apr 8.
This study aimed to examine the effect of chronic exposure to flour dust on the pulmonary symptoms and pulmonary indices of mill workers. The cohort study was conducted on 67 mill workers and 53 controls from 2014 to 2016. Demographic information was collected through interviews and pulmonary indices; flour dust exposure was measured by spirometry, and NIOSH 0500 and NIOSH 0600 methods. The incidences of pulmonary symptoms, including cough, sputum, dyspnea, wheezing and bronchitis, were significantly more in the case group than the control group. At the beginning of the study, there was no significant difference between the case and control groups regarding the pulmonary indices of forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV), peak expiratory flow and FEV/FVC; however, after 2 years of exposure to flour dust, the pulmonary indices significantly decreased in the case group and showed a restrictive pattern. Based on the linear regression model, the most important predictor variables of FVC and FEV were age, body mass index, smoking and level of exposure to respirable flour dust. There is a strong correlation between chronic exposure to flour dust and the incidence of pulmonary complications and reduced pulmonary functions.
本研究旨在探讨长期接触面粉粉尘对面粉厂工人肺部症状和肺指标的影响。2014年至2016年，对67名面粉厂工人和53名对照者进行了队列研究。通过访谈收集人口统计学信息和肺指标；采用肺量计以及美国国家职业安全与健康研究所（NIOSH）0500和NIOSH 0600方法测量面粉粉尘暴露情况。病例组咳嗽、咳痰、呼吸困难、喘息和支气管炎等肺部症状的发生率显著高于对照组。研究开始时，病例组和对照组在用力肺活量（FVC）、第1秒用力呼气量（FEV）、呼气峰值流速和FEV/FVC等肺指标方面无显著差异；然而，在接触面粉粉尘2年后，病例组的肺指标显著下降并呈现限制性模式。基于线性回归模型，FVC和FEV最重要的预测变量是年龄、体重指数、吸烟以及可吸入面粉粉尘的暴露水平。长期接触面粉粉尘与肺部并发症的发生率及肺功能下降之间存在密切关联。
