Search

Background: The ready-made garment industry is one of Bangladeshu2019s most noteworthy catalysts for economic development. Many unskilled laborers from rural location work in this sector. International studies have identified numerous health problems among industrial workers in general and garment workers. However, health problem with a special focus on cardiometabolic risk factors to Bangladeshi garment factory workers has been scarcely investigated.Objectives: To provide an overview of health problems with a special focus on cardiometabolic risk factors among garment workers in Bangladesh.Methodology: A total of 4736 randomly selected factory workers (male 2825 and female 1911) aged u226518 years from 6 garment factories in Gazipur district of Bangladesh were investigated in a population based cross-sectional study. Data were collected by using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Anthropometric details including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist hip ratio (WHR), hemoglobin (Hb), urinary tract infection (UTI) and cardiometabolic parameters including diabetes (DM) and hypertension (HTN) were assessed. Results: Among the study participants, majority (86%) were found in the age group of 18-35 years where mean age was 27.6 u00b1 8.0 years. About 16.1% participants were underweight (BMI 4/HPF), HTN (u2265140/90 mmHg) and DM (RBG u226511.1 mmol/l) were 33.4%, 36.2%, 13.9% and 7.0% respectively. Both general (19.3 vs 24.0%) and central obesity (WC: 16.4 vs 36.3% and WHR: 49.4 vs 79.1%), anemia (19.0 vs 54.7%) and UTI (20.1 vs 60%) were significantly higher in female, whilst DM (8.8 vs 4.3%) and HTN (17.4 vs 8.7%) were significantly higher in male (p

Background: Waist circumference (WC) has been incorporated in the definition of the metabolic syndrome (MetS), but the capability of the cut-offs to Bangladeshi adults has been scarcely investigated. Aims: To evaluate possible WC thresholds to be used in the definition of MetS. Methods: We analyzed baseline data of 2293 participants from a randomized crossu2011sectional study in a rural community of Bangladesh in 2009. We used the 2005 revised National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) criteria to define MS. We identified optimal cut-off points which maximized joint sensitivity and specificity (Youdenu2019s index) from Receiver Operator Characteristic Curves. We also estimated the C-statistics using logistic regression.Results: Optimal cut-off for men was 90 cm and for women was 80 cm. Both the values were similar to the recommended values for the South Asian population. Optimal cut-offs did not vary considerably across age.Discussion: We found similar sex-specific cut-offs for WC recommended by revised ATP III criteria for adult men and women.