Unit of Toxicology and Environment, School of Public Health, Université de Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Occup Environ Med. 2020 Jan;77(1):19-21. doi: 10.1136/oemed-2019-105771. Epub 2019 Oct 29.
The African Copperbelt is a site of intense artisanal and industrial mining and refining of copper and cobalt. Anecdotal reports of erectile dysfunction (ED) among mineworkers in the area led us to conduct an explorative study to investigate the possible association between ED and working in mining-related jobs.
We included 42 consecutive men (18-40 years) buying sildenafil (the active substance of Viagra) from a pharmacy located in a popular neighbourhood in Lubumbashi, and 42 age-matched (±2 years) men buying painkillers. All participants replied to questionnaires administered face-to-face to obtain sociodemographic data, including information on occupation, and a score of erectile function using the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF6).
The IIEF6 score (maximum 30) was lower among sildenafil-buyers (median 17, range 8-30) than among painkiller-buyers (median 30, range 17-30). The proportion of mining-related jobs was higher among sildenafil-buyers (19/42, 45%) than among painkiller-buyers (7/42, 17%), yielding an OR of 4.1 (95% CI 1.5 to 11.3; p=0.009). The proportion of mining-related jobs was higher among men with ED (defined as IIEF6 <26) (24/45, 54%) than among men without ED (2/39, 5%) (OR 21.1; 95% CI 4.5 to 98.4; p<0.001). Using a more stringent definition of ED (IIEF6 <22) gave similar results: 55% (20/36) of men with ED had a mining-related job versus 13% (6/48) of men without ED (OR 8.7; 95% CI 2.9 to 25.7; p=0.001).
The findings of this preliminary study justify further epidemiological studies of the possible role of occupational exposures in the pathogenesis of male sexual dysfunction among miners and workers in the copper and cobalt industry.
非洲铜带是一个高度集中的手工和工业采矿和精炼铜和钴的地方。有传闻称，该地区的矿工中存在勃起功能障碍（ED），这促使我们进行了一项探索性研究，以调查 ED 与从事采矿相关工作之间可能存在的关联。
我们纳入了 42 名连续的男性（18-40 岁），他们从位于卢本巴希一个热门街区的一家药店购买西地那非（伟哥的有效成分），并纳入了 42 名年龄匹配（±2 岁）的男性，他们购买的是止痛药。所有参与者都接受了面对面的问卷调查，以获取社会人口统计学数据，包括职业信息和国际勃起功能指数（IIEF6）的勃起功能评分。
西地那非购买者的 IIEF6 评分（最高 30 分）低于止痛药购买者（中位数 17 分，范围 8-30 分）（19/42，45%）高于止痛药购买者（7/42，17%），比值比为 4.1（95%CI 1.5 至 11.3；p=0.009）。ED 定义为 IIEF6<26）的男性中，从事与采矿相关工作的比例（24/45，54%）高于无 ED 的男性（2/39，5%）（比值比 21.1；95%CI 4.5 至 98.4；p<0.001）。使用更严格的 ED 定义（IIEF6<22）也得出了类似的结果：24/45 名 ED 男性从事与采矿相关的工作，而 48 名无 ED 男性中仅有 6 名（13%）（比值比 8.7；95%CI 2.9 至 25.7；p=0.001）。
这项初步研究的结果证明，需要进一步进行流行病学研究，以探讨职业暴露在矿工和铜钴行业男性性功能障碍发病机制中的可能作用。
