Abstract
Introduction: Hospital cleaning workers are exposed to a variety of health hazards with little attention paid to them. Aim of work: to assess the prevalence and risk factors of work-related health disorders among hospital cleaning workers. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study used a self-administered questionnaire to collect data on work-related risk factors and the occurrence of various health complaints among 5000 hospital cleaning workers (response rate 86.24%). The frequency of health disorders among workers was estimated by using binary logistic regression analysis to detect the risk factors. Results: Health disorders among hospital cleaning workers in decreasing order of frequency was 24.7% respiratory symptoms, 18.3% skin symptoms, 16.7% combined respiratory and skin symptoms, 14.7% musculoskeletal symptoms, 11.1% combined skin and musculoskeletal symptoms, 8.4% psycho-social problems and 6.1% needle stick and sharp object injuries. Risk factors for health complaints included duration of working >10 years (OR=0.68, CI=0.54 – 0.96), female gender (OR=1.78, CI=1.58 – 3.88), working in the operating room (OR=1.56, CI=1.26 – 2.82), working in surgical ward (OR=4.14, CI=1.82 – 8.74), number of night shifts/month>8 (OR=1.78, CI=1.24 – 4.86), absence of hard containers for needles (OR=1.96, CI=1.52 – 2.78), absence of standard hospital policies (OR=2.43, CI=1.96 – 2.86), absence of primary medical examination (OR=1.68, CI=1.12 – 3.24), absence of periodic medicalexamination (OR=0.18, CI=0.03 – 0.24), absence of protective clothes except for gloves (OR=1.42, CI=1.14 – 2.26), working hours 8-12 hours per day (OR=2.12, CI=1.42 – 3.54) and working hours >12 hours/day (OR=2.24, CI=1.19 – 3.12). Conclusion: Health and safety of hospital cleaning workers has been inadequately provided which mandates the high need for health education, diagnostic and therapeutic interventions to this work group.