A Study of Respiratory Symptoms and Disorders among Rice Mill Workers

BACKGROUND In India, rice is the staple food for most people and many people are employed in rice mills. With lack of specific guidelines for rice mills' establishment and operation, workers face a lot of problems especially from respiratory illness. We wanted to determine the pattern of respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function disorders among rice mill workers and provide health education to reduce respiratory morbidity. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted during the period October 2016 - 2018. A total of 50 rice mill workers and 50 normal individuals were assigned to the exposure and control groups respectively. Each individual was interviewed using the British Medical Research Council questionnaire and was later subjected to physical examination, routine laboratory investigations, and pulmonary function tests (PFT). Data was statistically analysed and presented. RESULTS There was a higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms among the rice mill workers when compared to their control counterparts. Cough (28 %) was the predominant symptom and was high in those involved in sweeping and cleaning activities (80 %). There was a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) among all the spirometric parameters tested like FEV1, FVC, FEV1 / FVC and PEFR except for FEF. About 74 % had respiratory morbidity and obstructive lung diseases (36 %) were predominant as compared to restrictive lung diseases (26 %) and mixed lung disorders (12 %) in the exposure group. Obstructive pattern was predominantly seen in those with a working history of < 10 years and restrictive and mixed patterns were predominantly seen in those with a working history of >10 years. With increase in duration of work, prevalence of respiratory symptoms as well as the severity increased. CONCLUSIONS It can be concluded that rice mill workers are at a higher risk of acquiring respiratory symptoms and lung impairments. Therefore, it is necessary to implement preventive measures by means of controlling dust emission, educating the workers, etc. Workers should also have periodical clinical and spirometric evaluation and those showing significant impairment should be readjusted in other sections of the industry.