Occupational Diseases of Women Workers in Turkey: A Neglected Area

Abstract

Objective: Despite many studies and reports regarding occupational diseases OD of women workers WW in Turkey the exact magnitude of OD is largely unknown. This study aims to identify and highlight the main topics regarding employment characteristics and work-related diseases of WW based on the data of OD outpatient clinic and national statistics with a broad perspective in Turkey. Methods: This is a cross sectional study. Data were obtained from OD council report of 269 WW without sample selection. Results: The mean age was 37.8 years, mean working time was 126.6 months. The three majority of the sectors were health care, automotive, textile sectors. Of the WW, 74.2% were diagnosed with one or more OD. The most common three diagnoses of OD were: musculoskeletal diseases: 57.7%, respiratory diseases 23.6%, and hearing loss and vocal cord pathologies: 7.7%. Conclusion: Our research shows that there are still problems in the diagnosis and reporting of OD of WW. The old risks such as ergonomics, chemicals and common diseases such as musculoskeletal diseases still remain important. New sectors and new working models are rising and should be carefully evaluated for long-term OHS outcomes. There is still a huge research gap in terms of improving knowledge of OD for women

Keywords

• musculoskeletal diseases,occupational diseases,women workers

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