International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health | May 2017 | Vol 4 | Issue 5 Page 1510 International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health Krishna Kumar MK et al. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2017 May;4(5):1510-1514 http://www.ijcmph.com pISSN 2394-6032 | eISSN 2394-6040 Original Research Article Pulmonary function of automobile repair workers in the informal sector of Raichur urban Krishna Kumar M. K. 1 *, Leyanna Susan George 2 INTRODUCTION A broad spectrum of adverse health effects can be seen with various occupational settings. Those range from mild reversible conditions to progressive disorders. It can be linked with the rate and duration of exposures. Automobile repair industry is one such area where workers are exposed to particulate matter (soot), carbon monoxide, welding fumes, inorganic solvents, isocyanates in paints, heavy metal poisoning and accidental injuries. 1 The diseases from toxic exposures can take a long time to become apparent and are often not reported or diagnosed as being related to work. A vast majority of automobile repair workers in our country are employed in the informal sector or unorganized sector. Despite the presence of the Unorganized Sectors’ Social Security Act (2008), practically this sector gets no social security measures. 2 These workers are employed in makeshift wayside workshops and in small ill ventilated shacks. Most of ABSTRACT Background: Automobile repair workers of the informal sector are exposed to dusts, toxic fumes and aerosols. Long term occupational exposure may lead to pulmonary function impairment. Hence, the objectives were to study the occurrence of obstructive and restrictive pulmonary impairment among the automobile repair workers by using pulmonary function test and the factors associated with it. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out in automobile repair workers who work in informal sector in the urban area of Raichur in Karnataka. The pulmonary function tests viz. Forced Expiratory volume in one second, Forced vital capacity, Peak Expiratory Flow Rate per liter and FEV 1 /FVC ratio in percentage were measured for each worker in sitting posture using a digital spirometer. Data collected were analyzed in SPSS 16.0 software. Chi-square test and t test was used. Results: Out of the 97 automobile repair workers, 42 (43.3%) had normal pulmonary function. Among the abnormal PFT, 20 (20.6%) had obstructive lung function, 25 (25.8%) had restrictive lung function and 10 (10.3%) had mixed obstructive and restrictive lung function. The workers with abnormal PFT consisted of body repair workers (25.0%), mechanical workers (38.1%), spray painters (75.0%), battery repair workers (100.0%) and tyre retreading workers (88.9%). Conclusions: In this study, 56.7% of workers had some form of pulmonary function impairment. Smoking, increase in duration of work hours and years of work showed significant pulmonary impairment. The study highlights the need for creating awareness and encouraging the use of protective gears such as masks, early screening, diagnosis and treatment of respiratory diseases among the garage workers. Keywords: Automobile repair workers, Informal sector, Pulmonary function tests Department of Community Medicine, 1 SR Medical College and Research Center, Akathumuri, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India; 2 Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Amrita University, Kochi, Kerala, India Received: 28 March 2017 Accepted: 13 April 2017 *Correspondence: Dr. Krishna Kumar M. K., E-mail: mkkkumar3@yahoo.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20171571