Postural Difference in Expiratory Rate among Female Sanitary Workers and Its Relationship with Blood Pressure and Anthropometric Indices
Journal Title: Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research (BJSTR) - Year 2017, Vol 1, Issue 2
Abstract
Numerous studies have documented the adverse effects of occupational hazards on respiratory functions. The present study hypothesized that: Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) of Nigerian premenopausal sanitary workers was neither affected by standing nor sitting: and that neither standing nor sitting PEFR had relationship with Systolic Blood pressure (SBP), Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP), Mean Arterial Pressure, Body Mass Index (BMI), weight, height and age. In order to test these hypotheses, a population of 48 premenopausal professionals consisting of 24 sanitary workers and 24 teachers were selected after satisfying the inclusion criteria. Measurements were obtained using Wright Flow Meter, Meter Rule, Weighing scale and Sphygmomanometer. The result of the study indicated that the PEFR of the sanitary workers were significantly reduced (P< 0.05) during standing and sitting. Moreover, despite the significant decrease (P<0.05) in SBP, DBP, MAP, BMI and Weight of sanitary workers, only sitting PEFR showed a correlation (r= -0.478, P<0.05) with BMI. Therefore, we concluded that there was postural difference in PEFR of Nigerian female sanitary workers and sitting PEFR related inversely with BMI. Report from Information Nigeria (2012) revealed that about 200 Nigerians suffer occupational hazard daily. Sanitary work is one of the occupations involving exposure to environmental pollutants. Dusts, fumes and other air borne pollutants are known in scientific consensus to affect physiological functions. For instance, Praveen et al. [1] indicated that people exposed to different dose and frequency of dust exhibited increased amplitudes of QRS and T waves, longer PR and ST segments and high Systolic Blood Pressure, Diastolic Blood Pressure and Mean Arterial Blood Pressure. The reports of American Heart Association [2] also corroborated Praveen’s findings. Also, body weight and Body Mass Index were reported to be affected by exposure to airborne pollutants [3,4]. The introduction of Flow meter by Martin Wright eased the determination of the effect of exposure to airborne pollutants on respiratory function and Peak Expiratory Flow Rate [5]. Studies have documented that Peak Expiratory Flow Rate, a measure of speed of expiration, is decreased by doses and frequency of dust exposure (Meo 2004) [6]. Studies showed that wood workers were characterized by low Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (Meo 2004) [6,7]. Noor et al. [8] found that Timed forced expiratory volume (FEV1) which is often considered a surrogate of Peak Expiratory Flow Rate was low in people exposed to dust. In a similar vein, Zedeke et al. [9] and Shobana et al. [10] reported low Peak Expiratory Flow Rate in workers exposed to dust. Abou-Taleb et al. [11] and Rafnsson et al. [12] stated that prolonged exposure to cement dust can lead to impairment of lung function. In Nigeria, cement factory workers were shown to have low Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (Douglas and Alasia 2012). Besides airborne pollutants, the position of the body can affect Peak Expiratory Flow Rate in healthy individuals. PEFR taken in adult female during standing was higher than the lying measurement [13-16]. On the contrary, at least a study has shown posture does not affect Peak Expiratory Flow Rate in healthy individuals [17]. Preponderance of evidence suggests that dust exposure affects cardiovascular and respiratory functions (Douglas and Alasia 2012) [1,10]. Also, there are reports on the effect of posture on respiratory function (Silva and Kumar 2015) [16]. However, there is no specific study in which the effect of posture on Peak Expiratory Flow Rate and how the postural Peak Expiratory Flow Rate relates with cardiovascular and anthropometric parameters of Nigerian premenopausal sanitary workers have been done. Therefore, the study was designed to investigate the effect of posture on Peak Expiratory Flow Rate and how the postural Peak Expiratory Flow Rate relates with cardiovascular and anthropometric parameters of Nigerian premenopausal sanitary workers.
Authors and Affiliations
TJ Oni, MJ Adeniyi
Keywords
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- EP ID EP567068
- DOI 10.26717/BJSTR.2017.01.000182
- Views 166
- Downloads 0
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