Assessment of Respiratory Problems among Poultry Workers in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Rivers State
- PETER-KIO, Opirite Boma1; EUGENE, Esther2; KORUBO, Clinton Uncle3
- DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17477266
- UKR Journal of Medicine and Medical Research (UKRJMMR)
This study assessed respiratory problems among poultry workers in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Rivers State. The cross sectional research design was adopted with a population consisting of 3,948 poultry workers in Port Harcourt Metropolis. A sample size of 440 was selected using a multi-staged sampling procedure. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire with reliability coefficient of 0.83 and analyzed using percentage, and Biserial Correlation at 0.05 alpha level. The finding of the study revealed that more than half (70.3%) of the poultry workers experienced respiratory symptom working in the poultry, among which majority (90.6%) experienced coughing, 75.1% wheezing, 61.2% phlegm and 50.2% shortness of breath. The result showed that respiratory problems among poultry workers was significantly related with working period/hour per day (N = 411; r = 0.71; p<0.05), smoking (N = 411; r = 0.85; p<0.05), and PPE use (N = 411; r = 0.76; p<0.05). However, though related, no statistically significant relationship was found between respiratory problems and years of work experience (N = 411; r = 0.13; p>0.05), age (N = 411; r = 0.09; p>0.05). It was concluded the respiratory problems among poultry workers in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Rivers State were mainly coughing, wheezing, phlegm and shortness of breath. It was recommended among others that, the Ministry of Agriculture should establish a health framework for poultry workers to promote a preventive occupational health and safety culture, this will help to mitigate their exposure to respiratory problems.

