Md. Sadequr Rahman1, Atonu Das2, A.F.M. Nazmul Islam3, S.A.H.M. Mesbahul Islam4, Bilkis Sultana5,
Md. Abdullah Sayed6, Md. Abul Khaer Chowdhury7, Nujhat Nowsheen Chys8
1. Associate professor, Department of Medicine, North East Medical College, Sylhet.
2. Consultant, Department of Medicine, Sylhet M.A.G. Osmani Medical College, Sylhet.
3. Professor & Head, Department of Medicine, North East Medical College, Sylhet.
4. Professor and Head, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Parkview Medical College, Sylhet.
5. Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Parkview Medical College, Sylhet.
6. Associate professor, Department of Psychiatry, North East Medical College, Sylhet.
7. Associate professor, Department of Pharmacology, North East Medical College, Sylhet.
8. Lecturer, Department of Biochemestry, Sylhet Womens Medical College, Sylhet.
Abstract
Both cigarette smoking and long-term exposure to crystalline silica dust were reported to be associated with increased mortality. However, the combined effect of both factors has not been well evaluated. The current study endeavours to elucidate the combined effect of silica and smoking in COPD. This cross sectional observational study was carried out in the stone quarries of Companiganj and Gowainghat Upozilla, during the time period of 1st March, 2022 to 29th February, 2023 and the control subjects were collected from Sylhet MAG Osmani medical college hospital, Sylhet. Convenient sampling method was used to recruit the required number of respondents in the study. Among the 200 quarry workers 106 were smoker as well as silica exposure, so to see the cumulative effect of “smoking and silica” vs smoking only 100 control respondent were taken from Sylhet M.A.G. Osmani Medical college hospital, who are not exposed to quarry dust, matched in terms of age, sex, gender and socioeconomic status. Among the case subjects 47.2% developed COPD and among the control group only 23% developed COPD. Finally, he analysis shows that workers who were smoker and exposed to silica dust were significantly (p<0.001) increased risk of developing COPD (RR 2.05; 95% CI 1.36-3.09) compared to the only smoking exposure group. Silica dust act synergistically with smoking causing increasing the prevalence of COPD. Therefore, more effective measures should be taken towards silica control and smoking cessation among stone quarry workers.
Key Words: Silica dust, COPD, Smoking.