Olirk Baldwina Tita, Ngowi Aiwerasia Vera, August Furaha, Mrema Ezra Jonathan, Bachwenkizi Jovine, Mamuya Simon Henry
Department of Occupational Health and Safety, Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
PLoS One. 2025 Mar 18;20(3):e0319653. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0319653. eCollection 2025.
Women constitute a large proportion of the workforce in today's world. Hazardous working environment conditions for these women pose threat to their reproductive health. Despite efforts to address maternal health in Tanzania, the impact of occupational risks during pregnancy remains unclear. We assessed whether maternal occupation during pregnancy is associated with adverse Foetal outcomes.
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 self-referred post-delivery women at a referral Hospital in Tanzania. Information on socio-demographic characteristics and maternal occupational characteristics was assessed through the use of a pre-tested questionnaire. Questions on physical demanding work and prolonged standing were obtained from the standardized Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. To assess occupational exposure to chemicals, job titles and task descriptions were linked to a job-exposure-matrix, an expert judgment on exposure to chemicals at the workplace. Information relating to obstetric characteristics and pregnancy outcomes was obtained from the medical files and clinic cards. Data was analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. Odds ratios > 1 was considered risk while Odds ratios < 1 was considered protective and P value < 0.05 was considered significant.
The mean age was 28.0 ± 6.3. Out of 400 post-delivery women studied, 174 (43.5%) were engaged in various occupations. Agriculture (22.4%) was the most prevalent occupation followed by tailoring (19.0%). Relative to the referent group of other occupations, agriculture workers, had higher adjusted odds ratios of congenital malformation (AOR = 4.5, 95% CI; 1.6-12.8)preterm babies (AOR = 2.8, 95% CI; 1.3-7.9), low birth weight (AOR = 3.1, 95% CI; 1.4-8.4) and low Apgar score (AOR = 3.5, 95% CI; 1.3-9.5). Food vendors: low birth weight (AOR = 8.6, 95% CI; 2.7-24.8) and low Apgar score (AOR = 13.5, 95% CI; 4.5-39.4).
Understanding occupational characteristics and their relation to adverse Foetal outcomes is important to formulate appropriate strategies to promote and protect maternal and infant health at work.
在当今世界，女性在劳动力中占很大比例。这些女性所处的危险工作环境条件对她们的生殖健康构成威胁。尽管坦桑尼亚在努力解决孕产妇健康问题，但孕期职业风险的影响仍不明确。我们评估了孕期母亲的职业是否与不良胎儿结局相关。
在坦桑尼亚一家转诊医院对400名产后自我转诊的女性进行了一项横断面研究。通过使用预先测试的问卷评估社会人口学特征和母亲职业特征信息。关于体力要求高的工作和长时间站立的问题来自标准化的肌肉骨骼问卷。为评估化学物质的职业暴露，将职位名称和任务描述与工作暴露矩阵相关联，这是对工作场所化学物质暴露的专家判断。从医疗档案和诊所卡片卡片中获取与产科特征和妊娠结局相关的信息。使用社会科学统计软件包（SPSS）23版对数据进行分析。比值比>1被视为有风险，比值比<1被视为有保护作用，P值<0.05被视为有统计学意义。
平均年龄为28.0±6.3岁。在研究的400名产后女性中，174名（43.5%）从事各种职业。农业（22.4%）是最普遍的职业，其次是裁缝（19.0%）。相对于其他职业的参照组，农业工人先天性畸形的调整后比值比更高（比值比=4.5，95%可信区间：1.6 - 12.8），早产婴儿（比值比=2.8，95%可信区间：1.3 - 7.9），低出生体重（比值比=3.1，95%可信区间：1.4 - 8.4）和低阿氏评分（比值比=3.5，95%可信区间：1.3 - 9.5）。食品摊贩：低出生体重（比值比=8.6，95%可信区间：2.7 - 24.8）和低阿氏评分（比值比=13.5，95%可信区间：4.5 - 39.4）。
了解职业特征及其与不良胎儿结局的关系对于制定适当策略以促进和保护工作场所的母婴健康很重要。
