Abstract:
Background: Cotton dust induced respiratory disorders are dramatically increased over the globe, especially the
problem is serious in developing countries. Respiratory symptoms, such as cough, phlegm, wheezing, shortness of
breath, chest tightness, chronic bronchitis, and byssinosis are common among workers exposed to cotton dust.
However, in Ethiopia, the magnitude of the problem is not well known and information is limited about the risk
factors. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and associated factors.
Methods: A Comparative cross-sectional study design was employed. A total of 413 (276 exposed and 137 unexposed)
participants were included in the study. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select exposed
and unexposed groups to cotton dust respectively. Multivariable binary logistic regression analyses was performed to
identify variables associated with respiratory symptoms and adjusted odds ratio (AOR) was used to determine the
strength of associations. Significance level was obtained at 95% confidence interval (CI) and p-value ≤0.05.
Results: The prevalence of self-reported respiratory symptoms was 47.8% (95% CI: 41.3, 53.7%) and 15.3% (95% CI:
9.6, 22.3%) among exposed and control groups respectively. Sex (AOR = 2.1, 95% CI: 1.29, 3.45), service year (AOR
= 2.38, 95% CI: 1.19, 4.71) and ventilation (AOR = 2.4, 95% CI: 1.17, 4.91) were factors significantly associated with
respiratory symptoms. Furthermore, working department such as; ginning (AOR = 5.1, 95% CI: 2.13, 12.16), spinning
(AOR = 4.96, 95% CI: 2.18, 11.29), weaving (AOR = 5.9, 95% CI: 2.46, 14.27) and blowing working departments (AOR = 5.
14, 95% CI: 1.4, 18.94) were significantly associated with respiratory disorders.
Conclusions: The prevalence of self-reported respiratory symptoms was higher among workers exposed to cotton dust
than unexposed workers. Sex, service year, working department and work unit ventilation were predictor variables for
respiratory symptoms. Thus, reducing exposure to dust, adequate ventilation and improving the hygiene of working
departments are needed to reduce respiratory symptoms.
