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Respiratory symptoms and illnesses related to the concentration of airborne particulate matter among brick kiln workers in Kathmandu valley, Nepal

Overview of attention for article published in Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, March 2017
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Title
Respiratory symptoms and illnesses related to the concentration of airborne particulate matter among brick kiln workers in Kathmandu valley, Nepal
Published in
Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, March 2017
DOI 10.1186/s40557-017-0165-0
Pubmed ID
Authors

Seshananda Sanjel, Sanjay N. Khanal, Steven M. Thygerson, William S. Carter, James D. Johnston, Sunil K. Joshi

Abstract

Bricks have been manufactured in Nepal for hundreds of years and are seen as a component of Nepalese sculpture and architecture. Large quantities of hazardous materials including high concentrations of particulate matter are emitted on a daily basis from brick kilns. Exposure to these hazardous materials can lead to adverse consequences on the environment and human health. This study was conducted to  estimate the prevalence of respiratory symptoms/illnesses and the magnitude of respirable and total dust exposures among Nepalese brick kiln workers. Respiratory symptoms/illnesses were evaluated by questionnaire among brickfield workers (n = 400) and a referent group of grocery workers (n = 400) in Kathmandu valley. Work zones (WZs): green brick molding (GBM), green brick stacking/carrying (GBS/C), red brick loading/carrying (RBL/C), coal preparation (CP) and firemen (FM) were the similar exposure groups (SEGs) from where personal air samples and interviews were taken. Among brickfield workers, personal monitoring was conducted across SEGs for total (n = 89) and respirable (n = 72) dust during February-March 2015 and March-April 2016. Applying multi-stage probability proportionate to size sampling technique, 16 kilns and 400 brick workers for interview were selected. Proportions, means, medians and ranges were calculated for the demographics, samples and respiratory symptoms/illnesses. One-way ANOVA was applied to compare the significance differences of the level of particulate matter among SEGs. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to evaluate association between respiratory symptoms/illnesses and participants groups, and SEGs among brick kiln workers at 0.05 level. Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 21. Chronic cough (14.3%), phlegm (16.6%) and bronchitis (19.0%) were higher (P < 0.05) among brickfield compared with grocery workers (6.8, 5.8 and 10.8%). Mean respirable (5.888 mg/m(3)) and total (20.657 mg/m(3)) dust exposures were highest for red brick loading tasks. The prevalence of chronic cough, chronic phlegm, chronic bronchitis, wheezing and asthma were significantly higher for other WZs workers (p < 0.05) compared with CP; for GBM: 22.9, 34.6, 15.0 and 7.5%; for GBS/C: 13.5, 15.8, 10.0, 8.8 and 7.5%; for RBL/C: 11.1, 17.1, 27.4, 19.0 and 11.9%; for FM: 18.4, 12.5, 28.4, 4.9 and 0.0%; and for CP: 4.9, 6.3, 13.3, 9.3 and 4.0% respectively. High dust exposures identified in this study may explain the increased prevalence of respiratory symptoms/illnesses among Nepalese brickfield workers, warranting action to reduce exposures.

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The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 2 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 94 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 94 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 15 16%
Researcher 13 14%
Student > Ph. D. Student 9 10%
Student > Bachelor 6 6%
Student > Doctoral Student 5 5%
Other 12 13%
Unknown 34 36%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 15 16%
Engineering 7 7%
Nursing and Health Professions 6 6%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 6 6%
Environmental Science 6 6%
Other 14 15%
Unknown 40 43%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 16 April 2017.
All research outputs
#15,742,933
of 25,382,440 outputs
Outputs from Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
#96
of 197 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#178,921
of 323,059 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
#4
of 5 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,382,440 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 37th percentile – i.e., 37% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 197 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 8.5. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 50% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 323,059 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 43rd percentile – i.e., 43% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 5 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one.