Archives of Occupational Health

en RESPIRATORY ILL HEALTH AMONG QUARRY WORKERS Prevalence of Respiratory Symptoms among Quarry Workers in Brunei Darussalam عمومى General پژوهشي Research Introduction: The mining and quarrying industry is considered a hazardous work sector due to occupational exposure to quarry dust and particulate matter which can result in respiratory illnesses to workers. These occupational respiratory illnesses tend to have a long latency period before a diagnosis is made, and therefore early detection of respiratory symptoms is crucial to prevent the development of chronic irreversible respiratory conditions. This study aimed to assess quarry workers’ self-reported respiratory symptoms and their health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in Brunei. Method: A descriptive study using convenient sampling method was involving 23 quarry workers from three quarry companies in Brunei. Data was collected using adapted St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) which was self-administered to all participants. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Cough was the commonest reported symptom (26.1%), followed by cough with phlegm (8.6%), shortness of breath (4.3%) and chest discomfort (4.3%) among quarry workers. The mean total SGRQ score was 7.51 (±11.70), while the sub-domain scores for Symptoms, Activity and Impact were 10.60 (±12.37), 6.30 (±11.43) and 7.35 (±15.87), respectively. Conclusion: The key findings revealed that there was low prevalence of respiratory symptoms in quarry workers. Smoking was associated with quarry workers (p=0.011). Prevalence of respiratory symptoms was higher among workers who were smokers, those working in areas with exposure to quarry materials, and those who had been employed longer. The study’s findings can be utilized by health professionals to plan, implement and evaluate preventative measures for mining and quarrying work settings.   Background: The mining and quarrying industry is considered a hazardous work sector due to occupational exposure to quarry dust and particulate matter, resulting in workers' respiratory illnesses. These occupational respiratory illnesses tend to have a long latency before the diagnosis is made, and therefore early detection of respiratory symptoms is crucial to prevent the development of chronic irreversible respiratory conditions. This study aimed to assess quarry workers' self-reported respiratory symptoms and their health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in Brunei. Methods: A descriptive study using a convenient sampling method was involving 23 quarry workers from three quarry companies in Brunei. The data were collected using the adapted St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), which was self-administered to all participants. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Cough was the most typical reported symptom (26.1%) among quarry workers, followed by cough with phlegm (8.6%), shortness of breath (4.3%), and chest discomfort (4.3%). The mean total SGRQ score was 7.51 (±11.70), while the sub-domain scores for symptoms, activity, and impact were 10.60 (±12.37), 6.30 (±11.43), and 7.35 (±15.87), respectively. Conclusion: The key findings revealed that there was a low prevalence of respiratory symptoms in quarry workers. Prevalence of respiratory symptoms was higher among workers who were smokers, those who were exposed to quarry materials, and those who had been employed longer. The study's findings can be utilized by health professionals to plan, implement and evaluate preventative measures for mining and quarrying work settings. Respiratory symptoms, Quarry workers, St. George Respiratory Questionnaire, Quality of life, Occupational Health 896 901 http://aoh.ssu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-261-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Ashish Trivedi trivediaa@gmail.com 0000-0002-1210-7994 Yes Occupational Health Division, Ministry of Health, Brunei Darussalam Alice S.C Lai alice.lai@moh.gov.bn 0000-0003-2303-0360 No Occupational Health Division, Ministry of Health,Brunei, PAPRSB Institute of Health Sciences, Bandar Seri Begawan, Universiti Brunei Darussalam Mahmud Tasim hmkt89@gmail.com 0000-0002-4457-6584 No PAPRSB Institute of Health Sciences, Bandar Seri Begawan, Universiti Brunei Darussalam Nik A.A Tuah anni.mohamad@ubd.edu.bn 0000-0002-7149-4349 No PAPRSB Institute of Health Sciences, Bandar Seri Begawan, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom