Determinants of onchocerciasis infection and its impact on health and productivity in Teppi Coffee Plantation field workers
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Date
1992-03
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
A cross- sectional survey of onchocerciasis in male field
workers was conducte~ in Teppi Coffee Plantation Project, Baya
Farm, in November-December 1991.
The objectives were to assess the magnitude of the problem, to
measure the sensitivity of various diagnostic procedures, to assess
the effect on onchocerciasis infection of various exposure factors,
and to determine the effect of the disease on work productivity.
A total of 196 study subjects participated in the study. They
were interviewed to assess their exposure status and complaints of
rheumatism. Physical examination was conducted and measurements on
weight and height, and on visual acuity were taken. Parasitological
diagnosis was based on - skin biopsies from the calf, hip, and
scapula bilaterally. Labor cards were reviewed over the previous
twelve months to assess various indicators of work productivity. A
case-control analysis was performed.
It was found that the prevalence rate of onchocerciasis was
very high (82.8%), as compared to other studies conducted in
Ethiopia. This was ascribed to the selection of the study
population, whose age, gender, and exposure status made it prone to
contract the disease. No study subject had any detectable visual
impairment and other chronic manifestations were few. This was
attributed partially to the "healthy worker effect".
Parasitological diagnosis detected 93.8% of the cases while
clinical diagnosis only detected 35 . 8% of the cases.In this study it was not possible to establish the protective
effect of being always fully clothed at work and having less riverassociated
activities. This was attributed to the cumulative effect
of exposure to many different sources due to the long sojourn of
study subjects in endemic areas.
Workers with onchocerciasis were significantly more likely to
be absent from work due to illness and other reasons, and earned
significantly less wages than workers without onchocerciasis, thus
demonstrating that non-blinding onchocerciasis has a negative
impact on work productivity.
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Keywords
Determinants of onchocerciasis infection