Respiratory Symptoms in Urban Traffic Policemen: A Cross-Sectional Study in Bangladesh

Author(s): Parvez Ahmed, Mahim Eaty, Nazmul Alam, Nawzia Yasmin

There is accumulating evidence that roadside pollution is detrimental to health. This study aims to asses and compare the risk of adverse respiratory symptoms in different categories of traffic police including constables, sergeants, and inspectors working in the polluted environment. A Cross-sectional study was conducted among 369 randomly selected traffic police personnel in the Chittagong city of Bangladesh. Information on occupation including job title and respiratory health symptoms were collected. Logistic regression analysis was conducted after adjusting for potential confounders. The risk of coughing [adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 4.469, 95% CI=1.265-15.793], coughing sputum [AOR= 3.687, 95% CI= 1.004 -13.540], coughing up blood [AOR=1.040, 95% CI=0.227-6.162], shortness of breathing [AOR=3.937, 95% CI=1.069-14.500], wheezing [AOR= 2.464, 95% CI= 0.613-9.906] and chest pain with deep breathing [AOR=2.163,95% CI= 0.560-8.349] was higher in traffic constables on comparison to inspectors. In sergeants odds increased for coughing up blood [AOR=1.102, 95% CI= 0.283-4.286] and wheezing [AOR=1.260, 95% CI= 0.304-5.229]. Study findings show that there is a substantial difference in the risk of studied respiratory symptoms between different categories of traffic police jobs.