A cross sectional study of pulmonary function tests in street cleaners of Udaipur region

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the respiratory symptoms and pulmonary functions of dust-exposed street sweepers with those of unexposed individuals. Materials and Methods: This Cross Sectional Study was done in the Department of Physiology, RNT Medical College, Udaipur. 84 individuals were selected via simple random sampling. These sweepers worked 8 h each day, 6 days a week, without using respiratory protective equipment. In addition to the exposure group, 80 employees with no occupational exposure to respiratory pollutants were randomly chosen from the office workers in the municipality as the control group. Participants underwent detailed direct interview, providing information of chronic respiratory symptoms, cigarette smoking, exercise history & occupational exposure along with complete physical examination. Results and Conclusion: non-smoker Street cleaners and non-smoker Control subjects are similar in Anthropometric terms like Age, Height and Weight. While there is statistically significant decrease in PEFR, FEV1 and FEF 25%-75% with FVC not decreased significantly among these groups. It means that non-smoker Street cleaners who were working for more than five years had developed Obstructive pattern(FEV1/ FVC ratio Control subjects are similar in term of Age, Height and Weight. There is significant decrease in FEV1 and FEF 25%-75% while FVC is not changed significantly among these two groups. It means that smoker Street cleaners who were working for more than last five years had also developed Obstructive pattern (FEV1/ FVC ratio In conclusion, it may be said that exposure to dust in sweepers has an immediate irritating effect on the respiratory tract, leading to some degree of lung function impairment. Keywords: Pulmonary function, Smoking, Spirometric test, Pulmonary function tests.