بررسي علايم بيماريهاي انسدادي ريه در كاركنان كارخانه آجرنسوز اصفهان ، 1378

Obstructive airway symptoms in refractory break factory workers, Isfahan, 1999

Refractory ceramic breaks are non-crystalline or amorphous made from melted kaolin clay or a combination of A1I02 and SiO2, and they can produce obstructive airway diseases. This descriptive and cross sectional study was performed on 145 workers of a refractory ceramic break factory in Isfahan. Respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function were evaluated using spirometry, physical examination and a questionnaire. Mean age of the participants was 39.5±7.62 (26-61) year, and 33 workers (22.8%) were smokers. Noisy breathing was detected in 38 cases (26.2%) and noisy breathing along with dyspnea was detected in 33 cases (22.8%) of the sample. Pulmonary function tests revealed evidence of obstructive airway disease in 63 workers (43.3%) and small airway disease in 81 cases (55.9%). The prevalence of airway diseases in this factory was higher than- that of the western countriesʹ refractory workers. Therefore it is important to promote the safety measures as well as workersʹ knowledge for implementing them.