Abstract
Background:: There is no information on the prevalence of symptoms related to neurotoxicity among carpenters working in underserved populations. To assess the magnitude of the problem, we conducted a population-based study in Atahualpa, a rural Ecuadorian village, where most men work as carpenters under poor safety conditions. Methods:: All men aged 4075 years living in Atahualpa were identified during a door-to-door survey and evaluated with a general demographic questionnaire, the Q16 questionnaire, the depression axis of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21, and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Results:: Among 230 participants, 63% were carpenters. Seventy participants (30%) had a positive Q16 questionnaire (6 points), which suggested neurotoxicity. In a logistic regression model adjusted for age, education, alcohol intake, symptoms of depression, and MoCA score, the proportion of Q16 positive persons was 39.1% for carpenters and 15.9% for noncarpenters (odds ratio: 3.53, 95% confidence interval: 1.757.15, P < 0.0001). In a generalized linear model, adjusted mean scores in the Q16 questionnaire were 4.9 for carpenters and 3.6 for noncarpenters (: 1.285, standard error: 0.347, P < 0.0001). There was no correlation between scores in the Q16 questionnaire and the MoCA (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.02), and the only significant covariate in the multivariate linear model was age, with every 10 years of age difference contributing 0.64 points in the Q16 questionnaire. Conclusion:: This study shows a high prevalence of symptoms associated with neurotoxicity among carpenters after adjusting for a number of confounders. Long-term exposure to toxic solvents is the most likely explanation to this finding.
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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License, which permits unrestricted reproduction and distribution, for non-commercial purposes only; and use and reproduction, but not distribution, of adapted material for non-commercial purposes only, provided the original work is properly cited.
