The association between BMI and haemoglobin and work productivity among Indonesian female factory workers.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI), haemoglobin (Hb) concentration and work productivity in Indonesian female industrial workers engaged in cigarette rolling.

DESIGN

Randomized-stratified, cross-sectional study.

SETTING

A clove cigarette factory in Central Java Province, Indonesia.

SUBJECTS

Two-hundred and thirty female cigarette-rollers.

METHODS

Anthropometric variables (height, weight, mid-upper arm circumference, BMI), body composition (lean body mass and fat mass from skinfolds thicknesses), Hb, work productivity (cigarettes/hour) were determined.

RESULTS

Of the 230 selected subjects 40.4% were anaemic and 41.3% had BMI < 18.5. Average production was 620 +/- 86 cigarettes/h. Productivity was positively correlated with work experience (r = 0.214, P < 0.01), lean body mass (r = 0.183, P < 0.01), height (r = 0.150, P < 0.05), Hb (r = 0.141, P < 0.05), and arm muscle area (r = 0.120, P < 0.05). Anaemic subjects produced 4.9% less (P < 0.01) than the non-anaemic ones. No linear relationship existed between BMI and productivity, but subjects with a BMI < 18.5, or < 17.0, produced respectively 5.1% (P < 0.05) and 6.8% (P <0.05) less than subjects with BMI between 18.5-22.5.

CONCLUSIONS

Work productivity of persons with low BMI and Hb may be reduced. However, BMI was not a good screening tool to detect low producers. When using BMI < 18.5 and a production < 550 cigarettes/h as cut-offs sensitivity (64.7%) and specificity (55.5%) were low.