Assessment of the effects of solvents on lung function among paint industry workers in Mauritius

Figures & data

Table 1. Socio-demographic characteristics status stratified by hours of exposure per work-week.

Characteristic			Hours of exposure ≤12 hours		Hours of exposure >12 hours
	N	%	n	%	n	%
Total	388	100.0%	214	55.2%	174	44.8%
Age group (years)
18–24	78	20.1%	41	52.6%	37	47.4%
25–34	176	45.4%	101	57.4%	75	42.6%
35–44	68	17.5%	37	54.4%	31	45.6%
45–54	51	13.1%	30	58.8%	21	41.2%
55–64	15	3.9%	5	33.3%	10	66.7%
Gender
Male	265	68.3%	162	61.1%	103	38.9%
Female	123	31.7%	52	42.3%	71	57.7%
Marital status
Never married	128	33.0%	78	60.9%	50	39.1%
Married	255	65.7%	136	53.3%	119	46.7%
Separated	5	1.3%	0	0.0%	5	100.0%
Highest level of education
Below secondary	51	13.1%	24	47.1%	27	52.9%
Lower secondary	122	31.4%	57	46.7%	65	53.3%
Higher secondary	108	27.8%	55	50.9%	53	49.1%
Vocational/Technical training	17	4.4%	13	76.5%	4	23.5%
Diploma level	28	7.2%	28	100.0%	0	0.0%
Bachelor’s/Master’s degree	62	16.0%	37	59.7%	25	40.3%
Area of residence
Urban	164	42.3%	83	50.6%	81	49.4%
Rural	224	57.7%	131	58.5%	93	41.5%

Table 2. Socio-demographic characteristics with exposure length status.

Characteristics	Crude Odds Ratios	95% Confidence Intervals	Adjusted* Odds Ratios	95% Confidence Intervals
Age group (years)
18–24	0.93	0.48–1.78	0.46	0.19–1.09
25–34	1.13	0.64–1.98	0.98	0.49–1.93
35–44	Reference	Reference	Reference	Reference
45–54	1.20	0.57–2.49	2.21	0.93–5.25
55–64	0.42	0.13–1.36	0.36	0.10–1.34
Gender
Male	2.15	1.39–3.32	3.39	1.97–5.81
Female	Reference	Reference	Reference	Reference
Marital status
Never married	1.37	0.89–2.10	1.76	0.98–3.15
Married	Reference	Reference	Reference	Reference
Separated**	0.18	0.02–1.52	Undefined	Undefined
Highest level of education
Below secondary	1.67	0.79–3.52	2.95	1.20–7.28
Lower secondary	1.69	0.91–3.14	2.48	1.19–5.16
Higher secondary	1.43	0.76–2.68	2.00	0.97–4.13
Vocational/Technical training	0.46	0.13–1.56	0.59	0.15–2.25
Diploma level	1.89	0.78–4.57	Undefined	Undefined
Bachelor’s/Master’s degree	Reference	Reference	Reference	Reference
Area of residence
Urban	Reference	Reference	Reference	Reference
Rural	1.37	0.92–2.06	1.51	0.95–2.40

* Adjusted for age, gender, marital status, education, residence

** Imputed for zero “0”

Figure 1. Distribution of participants by job department.

Table 3. Distribution of study participants by employment data.

Characteristics	Total		Hours of exposure ≤12 hours		Hours of exposure >12 hours		Crude OddsRatios	95% Confidence Intervals
	n	%	n	%	n	%
Total	388	100.0%	214	55.2%	174	44.8%
Present job department
Admin	26	6.7%	26	100.0%	0	0.0%	Reference	Reference
Finance	20	5.2%	20	100.0%	0	0.0%	0.77	0.50–13.07
IT	5	1.3%	5	100.0%	0	0.0%	0.19	0.01–3.61
Laboratory	25	6.4%	0	0.0%	25	100.0%	0.001	0.0001–0.03
Marketing	5	1.3%	5	100.0%	0	0.0%	0.19	0.01–3.61
Procurement office	5	1.3%	5	100.0%	0	0.0%	0.19	0.01–3.61
Production	148	38.1%	30	20.3%	118	79.7%	0.11	0.06–0.22
Sales	65	16.8%	45	69.2%	20	30.8%	Reference	Reference
Store	89	22.9%	78	87.6%	11	12.4%	3.15	1.39–7.17
Duration of employment (years)
<3	154	39.7%	82	53.2%	72	46.8%	Reference	Reference
3–9	171	44.1%	110	64.3%	61	35.7%	1.58	1.01–2.47
10–16	58	14.9%	17	29.3%	41	70.7%	0.36	0.19–0.70
17–23	5	1.3%	5	100.0%	0	0.0%	Undefined	Undefined

* Adjusted for age, gender, marital status, education, residence

** Imputed for zero “0”

Table 4. Description of study participants’ working conditions.

Characteristics	Crude Odds Ratios	95% Confidence Intervals	Adjusted* Odds Ratios	95% Confidence Intervals
Hazard awareness
Yes	0.21	0.08–0.57	0.15	0.05–0.46
No	Reference	Reference	Reference	Reference
PPE use
Yes	0.16	0.10–0.25	0.14	0.08–0.25
No	Reference	Reference	Reference	Reference
Awareness of effects of hazards
Yes	0.83	0.48–1.44	0.35	0.16–0.74
No	Reference	Reference	Reference	Reference
Presence of local exhaust ventilation at point of solvent use
Yes	6.53	3.76–11.33	14.83	7.11–30.93
No	Reference	Reference	Reference	Reference
Solvent containers labeled to indicate hazard
Yes	1.24	0.35–4.34	1.52	0.33–6.98
No	Reference	Reference	Reference	Reference

* Adjusted for age, gender, marital status, education, residence

** Imputed for zero “0”

Table 5. Distribution of participants by health conditions.

Characteristics			Hours of exposure ≤12 hours		Hours of exposure >12 hours		Crude Odds Ratios	95% Confidence Intervals
	N	%	N	%	N	%
Total	388	100.0%	214	55.2%	174	44.8%
Presence of wheezing or whistling in the last 12 months
Yes	67	17.3%	35	52.2%	32	47.8%	0.89	0.51–1.47
No	321	82.7%	179	55.8%	142	44.2%	Reference	Reference
Woken up with a feeling of tightness in chest in the last 12 months
Yes	37	9.5%	20	54.1%	17	45.9%	0.95	0.48–1.88
No	351	90.5%	194	55.3%	157	44.7%	Reference	Reference
Presence of attack of shortness of breath that came on during the day at rest in the last 12 months
Yes	11	2.8%	0	0.0%	11	100.0%	Undefined	Undefined
No	377	97.2%	214	56.8%	163	43.2%	Reference	Reference
Woken by an attack of coughing in the last 12 months
Yes	25	6.4%	10	40.0%	15	60.0%	0.52	0.23–1.19
No	363	93.6%	204	56.2%	159	43.8%	Reference	Reference
Phlegm from chest first thing in the morning in the winter
Yes	103	26.5%	62	60.2%	41	39.8%	1.32	0.84–2.09
No	285	73.5%	152	53.3%	133	46.7%	Reference	Reference
Phlegm from chest during the day or at night in the winter
Yes	41	10.6%	25	61.0%	16	39.0%	1.31	0.67–2.53
No	347	89.4%	189	54.5%	158	45.5%	Reference	Reference
Asthma
Yes	20	5.2%	10	50.0%	10	50.0%	0.80	0.33–1.99
No	368	94.8%	204	55.4%	164	44.6%	Reference	Reference

Table 6. Descriptive statistics of continuous variables compared by hours of exposure.

Variable Total = 388	Overall mean	SD	Hours of exposure ≤12 hours			Hours of exposure >12 hours
			N	Mean	SD	N	Mean	SD	t-test	p-value
Height (m)	1.69	0.1	214	1.71	0.1	174	1.67	0.8	4.51	<.001
Weight (kg)	68.38	13.3	214	68.86	14.0	174	67.79	12.3	0.79	0.431
Age (years)	32.8	9.8	214	32.44	9.5	174	33.25	10.2	−0.84	0.422
FVC	2.98	0.7	214	2.93	0.7	174	3.03	0.8	−1.26	0.209
FEV1	2.66	0.7	214	2.69	0.7	174	2.62	0.7	1.16	0.247
FEV1/FVC	0.90	0.1	214	0.92	0.1	174	0.87	0.1	5.74	<.001

* Adjusted for age, gender, marital status, education, residence

** Imputed for zero “0”