Background: Cement in one hand is the most used substance for construction all over the world but on the other hand prolonged exposure from cement dust particles along with smoking, long working duration in dusty environments and increasing age impairs pulmonary functions.
Objectives: The study aimed to determine the effect of cement dust on the pulmonary functions of cement factory workers.
Methods: It was a cross-sectional observational study conducted from October 2019 to February 2020 among 360 workers of cement factories of Chhattisgarh state selected by systematic random sampling who were interviewed. Spirometry was done and their forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in one second, Forced expiratory flow, peak expiratory flow rate, and lung age were determined with a flow-sensing spirometer. Data were collected, entered in MS Excel spreadsheet, and analyzed using SPSS software (version 20.0) for Chi-square test, linear regression, and general linear model.
Results: One-third of the study subjects had pulmonary dysfunction, out of which 10% and 30% were having severe and moderate dysfunction, respectively. Significant higher Odds for developing impaired pulmonary functions were seen among >40 years of age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =1.88 [1.13, 3.12]), more than 10 years of service (AOR = 4.69 [2.32, 9.53]) and smokers (AOR = 4.45 [2.53, 7.83]).
Conclusion: Working in dusty environment along with other factors in cement factories significantly decrease lung parameters. Exposure with dust is strong predictor for chronic respiratory symptoms.
Keywords: Cement; dust; pulmonary; respiratory symptoms; spirometry; workers.