Background Diseases severely affect the efficiency of workers. Comorbidity refers to the coexistence of two or more chronic diseases or health problems in the same individual. Previous studies have primarily focused on occupational injuries caused by environmental exposures, while the analysis of the epidemiological characteristics of self-reported diseases and occupational injuries among manufacturing workers has been insufficient.
Objective To analyze the distribution of self-reported diseases and occupational injuries among manufacturing workers, the strength of correlation between different diseases, and common disease combinations, and to preliminarily explore the relationship between self-reported diseases and occupational injuries.
Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted to investigate the occupational injuries of 2382 workers in 2 manufacturing enterprises over the past year, and 2355 questionnaires were valid after cleaning. The questionnaire included three parts: basic information, occupational injury occurrence, and disease prevalence. The self-reported diseases diagnosed by physicians included musculoskeletal diseases, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, mental health problems, neurological and sensory organ diseases, digestive organ diseases, reproductive and urinary organ diseases, skin diseases, tumors, endocrine and metabolic system diseases, blood diseases and birth defects, a total of 11 types. Log-binomial model was used to calculate the prevalence ratio (PR) value of the association between different diseases, and UpSet diagram was used to present the disease combination pattern.
Results In total, 40.2% (946/2355) of the study participants reported at least one disease, while 8.6% (203/2355), 5.2% (122/2355), and 5.9% (140/2355) reported having two, three, and four or more diseases, respectively. A higher prevalence was observed for musculoskeletal diseases, neurological and sensory organ diseases, digestive organ diseases, and skin diseases, which accounted for 18.0% (423/2355), 13.8% (324/2355), 9.3% (218/2355), and 9.1% (214/2355), respectively. Workers with musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular diseases, or neurological and sensory organ diseases reported significantly higher incidence of occupational injuries compared with workers without the corresponding diseases (P<0.001, P=0.041, and P=0.006, respectively). Musculoskeletal diseases were strongly associated with comorbidities of neurological and sensory organ diseases (PR values were 1.86 and 1.98, respectively), and the other patters were musculoskeletal diseases and digestive organ diseases (PR and OR values were 1.57 and 2.35, respectively), and musculoskeletal diseases and cardiovascular diseases (PR and OR values were 1.46 and 2.22, respectively). The largest binomial comorbidity group involved musculoskeletal diseases and neurological and sensory organ diseases, accounting for 5.4% (25/465) of the comorbid workers.
Conclusion Among the self-reported diseases of manufacturing workers, musculoskeletal diseases, neurological and sensory organ diseases, digestive organ diseases, and skin diseases are more common. Musculoskeletal diseases and neurological and sensory organ diseases are the most common in all comorbidities. Musculoskeletal diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and neurological and sensory organ diseases are associated with occupational injuries. In the prevention and control of occupational injuries, joint prevention strategies targeting multiple diseases should be strengthened.
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