The prevalence of occupational asthma and rhinitis among woodworkers in south-eastern Nigeria.

Abstract

Wood dusts are known to cause respiratory disorders like rhinitis and asthma. This study was therefore done to determine the magnitude of the problem among woodworkers in south-eastern Nigeria exposed to high level of wood dust. Five hundred and ninety one woodworkers were selected using a stratified random sampling. The prevalence of woodwork-related rhinitis and asthma were then observed in the study population. Also the peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) of each woodworker was obtained. The prevalence of occupational rhinitis was 78%, while that of asthma was 6.5%. As period of woodwork increased the prevalence of rhinitis and asthma increased (rhinitis: chi2 trend = 53.015, df = 1, P = 0.000). For asthma, chi2 trend = 19.721, df = 1, P = 0.000). Also the PEFR significantly became low with increasing years of exposure to woodwork (chi2 trend = 75.965, df = 1, P = 0.000). In conclusion the prevalence of rhinitis and asthma in woodworkers was high and significantly increased with years of working as a woodworker.