Morbidity profile of Beedi workers in the Urban Field Practice Area of a Medical College in Tumakuru.

Abstract

Introduction: Beedi rolling is one of the most common and popular job to meet daily expenses, especially amongst women of India, in spite of it being a hazardous profession. According to government estimates quoted by International Labour Organization, there are close to 5 million workers involved in rolling of beedis in India. A Beedi worker in the process of rolling may inhale tobacco dust and other harmful components. Objectives: 1. To describe the socio-demographic profile of study subjects. 2. To assess the work characteristics of study subjects. 3. To assess the morbidity profile of study subjects. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the urban field practice area of a Medical College, from June 2017 to December 2017. All the beedi workers (both gender) currently working from at least 6 months residing in above defined area were included in the study. A pretested semi-structured questionnaire was administered to the study subjects to collect information regarding socio demographic profile, work pattern and morbidity pattern. Results: The age of study subjects was 40.6±12.29yrs. Musculoskeletal symptoms (41.66%) were the most common complaints followed by neurological (40%), eye (21.66%) and skin (20.00%) symptoms. Conclusion: The most common morbidity was musculoskeletal followed by neurological, eye and skin symptoms.