title: Dermatological and respiratory problems in migrant construction workers of Udupi, Karnataka.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  India being a developing country has tremendous demand of physical infrastructure and construction work as a result there is a raising demand of construction workers. Workers in construction industry are mainly migratory and employed on contract or subcontract basis. These workers face temporary relationship between employer and employee, uncertainty in working hours, contracting and subcontracting system, lack of basic continuous employment, lack basic amenities, and inadequacy in welfare schemes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the prevalence of respiratory and dermatological symptoms among migratory construction workers.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was conducted in Manipal, Karnataka, among 340 male migratory construction workers. A standard modified questionnaire was used as a tool by the interviewer and the physical examination of the workers was done by a physician. The statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 15.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty percent of the workers belong to the age group of 18-30 years. The mean age of the workers was 26 ± 8.2 years. Most (43.8%) of the workers are from West Bengal followed by those from Bihar and Jharkhand. The rates of prevalence of respiratory and dermatological symptoms were 33.2% and 36.2%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The migrant construction workers suffer from a high proportion of respiratory and dermatological problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Manipal University, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Mayuri
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Manipal University, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Ramachandra
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kamath
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Medicine, National Institute of Occupational Health, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Rajnarayan R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Tiwari
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Statistics, Manipal University, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Narayana Pillai Sreekumaran
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Nair
keywords: Construction; contact dermatitis; migrant workers