An Epidemiological Cross-sectional study of morbidity profiles in workers engaged in leather footwear manufacturing unit.

Introduction: Occupation is a vital determinant influencing health and quality of life of an individual and family throughout life. Any Occupation is associated with health risks which may be high, moderate or low in intensity. The present study is a cross sectional study to assess the spectrum of morbidities observed amongst those working in Leather Footwear industries. Objectives: 1. To assess socioeconomic, demographic and occupational profile of the workers. 2. To identify morbidity amongst the study subjects. 3. To assess the factors influencing the morbidity of the study subjects. 4. To suggest recommendations based on the assessment findings of the workers in the Leather Footwear manufacturing unit. Materials and Method: It was a Cross sectional study on workers in Leather Footwear manufacturing unit At first a pilot study of 20 subjects was carried out then by simple random sampling 80 subjects were selected. Hence total sample size was 100. Study period was of 1 week. Personal interview was conducted in regional language and proforma was filled. Data was entered in Microsoft-Excel 2007 Software & analyzed by SPSS Software version 16.0. Results and Conclusion: The age profile of workers including both males and females varied from 13yrs to 55yrs. The prevalence of addictions to Tobacco, alcohol, smoking and obesity was widely prevalent amongst male workers. Common morbidities observed were musculoskeletal disorders, respiratory illness, anemia, dermatitis, indigestion, acidity, headache, giddiness, menstrual irregularity. Keywords: Worker, Leather industry, occupation, Morbidities.