Cardiopulmonary function, quality of life, musculoskeletal pain and serum lead level of welders in Enugu, Nigeria

Abstract

The study related serum lead level to cardiopulmonary function, quality of life and musculoskeletal pain of welders in Enugu, Nigeria. Snowball sampling technique was adopted to reach over 100 Enugu resident welders. The first 100 who met the inclusion criteria and gave their consent to participate in the study were sampled. The welders’ serum lead level was 0.522µg/dl (0.06-1.26 µg/dl). The welders had prevalent low back pain and a very high quality of life for the domain of physical health with a score of 94, and high psychosocial and social relationship domains for quality of life with the scores of 69 and 75 respectively. About 64.2% of the welders had an elevated systolic blood pressure above 120mmHg and 52.6% had diastolic blood pressure elevated above 80mmHg, while only 3.2% of the welders had pulse rates above 100 beats per minute. The mean values for lung function were FVC = 1.43, FEV1 = 1.13 and PEF = 1.61. The significant relationship between serum lead levels (FVC, FEV1 and PEF) could be attributed to lead inhalation. The significant relationship between serum lead levels and low back pain and knee pain could be attributed to lead’s effect on the musculoskeletal system.