The impact of automobile painting profession on selected respiratory parameters: A study from Palestine

An increasing rate of respiratory problems among workers in automobile painting workshops in west bank (tulkarm and nablus cities) has been noted in the last period. however,to date,no studies have been published about the effects of this profession on respiratory health in palestine. this study aims to determine the impact of automobile painting profession on respiratory health. this case-control study was conducted. forced spirometry was used to measure the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (fev1),forced vital capacity (fvc),the fev1/fvc ratios and prevalence of restrictive and obstructive lung patterns. twenty two workers (cases) and 45 controls were studied. the case and control groups have similar demographic characteristics. according to the type of lung status,82% of the workers showed abnormal respiratory parameters (68% restrictive vs. 14% obstructive). in comparison,42 % of non-workers showed abnormal respiratory parameters (40% restrictive vs. 2% obstructive) while others showed normal pattern. in this study,we concluded that working in automobile painting workshops might result in respiratory problems (obstructive and restrictive diseases). © 2017,university of mohammed premier oujda morocco.