Prevalence and risk factors of physical and psychological health among readymade garment workers in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

Objective. Poor health outcomes of Bangladeshi readymade garment (RMG) workers tend to be associated with a variety of occupational factors. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of, and risk factors associated with, the physical and psychological health outcomes of Bangladeshi RMG workers. Methods. Responses to a cross-sectional survey from a convenience sample of 411 adult Bangladeshi RMG workers (mean age = 26.24 years; SD 6.40 years; female = 80%) were analysed using bivariate and multivariate (logistic regression models) analyses. Results. More than half of the participants reported headaches (61.6%) and colds/flu (51.3%), followed by fever (37.2%), diarrhoea (32.8%), bodily pain (29.9%) and respiratory infections (20.9%). For psychological health, stress (69.1%), anxiety (66.2%) and boredom (64.5%) were most prevalent, followed by sleeplessness (51.3%), depression (48.2%) and fear (34.3%). RMG workers from the factories located in Chattogram (a peripheral region compared to Dhaka) reported poorer physical and psychological health outcomes than those working in factories in Dhaka (the capital city of Bangladesh). Overall, compared to males, female RMG workers were more likely to be vulnerable to both physical and psychological health outcomes. Conclusion. Improvement in workplace conditions and safety programmes is needed to safeguard the overall health outcomes of Bangladeshi RMG workers.

KEYWORDS:

• health vulnerabilities
• physical health
• psychological health
• readymade garment workers
• Bangladesh

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the individuals who helped conduct the face-to-face survey. Most of all, the authors would like to thank the Bangladeshi garment workers who participated in the survey.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethical approval was obtained from the University of New England Human Research Ethics Committee, Australia (Ethics Approval Number: HE17-277; Date: December 20, 2017) and was conducted in accordance with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki. All participants provided their written informed consent.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The exchange rate for BDT to USD is 0.0091 (on 30 September 2023).

Additional information

Funding

This research received no external funding. However, the first author is in receipt of the Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship, funded by the Australian Commonwealth Government.