TITLE:
ENT Pathologies Screening in Woodworkers in Parakou, Benin
AUTHORS:
Spero H. Raoul Hounkpatin, Fabien A. C. Gounongbe, Sonia Lawson Afouda, Marius C. Flatin, Karl A. F. B. Dossou-Kpanou, François Avakoudjo, Elvire Dossoumou, Wassi Adjibabi
KEYWORDS:
Timber/Wood-Workers, Occupational Rhinitis, ENT Pathologies
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery,
Vol.3 No.6,
November
6,
2014
ABSTRACT: Wood dust may induce health risks on exposed timber or wood workers, one of which is ENT disorders. This article aimed to detect ENT pathologies found among woodworkers in Parakou. It was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out from 1st March to 31st May, 2012 in Parakou, North-Benin. It involved 703 carpenters and sawyers operating in timber workshops in Parakou, regardless of age and sex. The mean age of the wood-workers was 26.14 ± 7.77 years. Their seniority in the timber profession was on average 4.9 ± 2.64 years. All of them were males. It had been noticed that 81.6% of them did not comply with any safety measure for their protection. ENT pathology had been diagnosed in 60.3% of the timber workers. Rhinitises came first and affected 43.1% of the workers, followed by pharyngitises (14.1%). The histological nature of the only case of tumor observed in Parakou could not have been specified, as the patient refused to undergo anatomopathological examination. Measures should be taken to get Parakou timber workers to protect themselves.