title: Respiratory symptoms and ventilatory function among health-care workers exposed to cleaning and disinfectant chemicals, a 2-year follow-up study.
abstract: Previous cross-sectional studies have shown that exposure to cleaning chemicals among health-care workers (HCWs) is associated with respiratory disorders and ventilatory function changes. This study aimed to further explore this association using a longitudinal approach. A prospective 2-year follow-up study was carried out at a tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia from June 2012 to June 2014 among 56 nurses who were responsible for disinfection and sterilization of medical instruments and equipment. The workplaces of the participants were assessed for engineering, environmental, and safety control measures. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to all participants to assess their exposure to cleaning chemicals and their medical history. Spirometric parameters were measured for all nurses in 2012 (baseline) and again in 2014 (follow-up). The prevalence of work-related respiratory symptoms did not increase significantly over this time. Among all the spirometric parameters, only forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) ratio decreased significantly, and only 10.7% of participants who were exposed to cleaning chemicals for more than 10 years had FEV1and FVC less than their longitudinal normal limits at the end of the study. Smoking and gender were associated with statistically significant decreases in some of the spirometric parameters. Our 2-year follow-up study did not demonstrate significant association between exposure to cleaning chemicals among HCWs and changes in the prevalence of work-related respiratory symptoms, but indicated early effects on ventilatory function among them. The study highlights the importance of periodic spirometry, proper work practices, and effective control measures to protect HCWs against potentially harmful workplace chemicals for disinfection and sterilization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection Prevention and Control, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia mhelaly72@gmail.com.|Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El-Helaly
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection Prevention and Control, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.|King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.|King Abdulla International Medical Research Center, King Saud University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Hanan H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Balkhy
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection Prevention and Control, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Khan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Waseem
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection Prevention and Control, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Sahdia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khawaja
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume / Q000187:drug effects; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D013147:Spirometry; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D004202:Disinfectants
keywords: Spirometry; chemicals; cleaning; health-care; respiratory; workers