Morbidity patterns among rice mill workers: A cross sectional study

Background: India, a land of agriculture, has formed the scaffolding for many agro-based industries. Morbidity is more common among these industrial workers; hence, this study was conducted.
Objectives: To study the morbidity pattern among the rice mill workers and the relationship between duration (years) of working and their morbid status.
Study Design: A cross-sectional study.
Materials and Methods: A pre-structured questionnaire was used to record the necessary information such as clinical history, sociodemographic profile, findings of clinical examination and performance of peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR). The study was conducted in three rice mills in an urban area under Urban Health Training Centre (UHTC), Department of Community Medicine, SSMC, Tumkur. A total of 75 workers were recruited for the study. The study was conducted in the month of October. Statistical analysis was done using Chi-square test.
Results: Among these 75 workers, 42.66% had respiratory morbidity; among them, 10.66% had PEFR less than 200L/min. 26.66% had low backache and knee joint pain and 20% had generalized / musculo skeleton pain. 6.6% suffered from allergic conjunctivitis and 4% had skin allergy.
Conclusion: High Prevalence of respiratory morbidity (42.66%) and 8 (10.66%) workers with decreased PEFR were found. It also showed that there was statistically significant relationship between duration (years) of working and respiratory morbid condition. This condition can be prevented by good health education and appropriate usage of safety devices, and further studies are recommended.

Keywords
Cross sectional, morbidity, peak expiratory flow rate, rice mill workers