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Exertional heat illness: knowledge and behavior among construction workers

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 25, pages 32269–32276 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Construction workers are considered one of the most vulnerable health group workers. Exertional heat illness (EHI) is a well-recognized health hazard that causes significant sickness and death. The purpose of this study was to assess construction workers’ environment and hydration status and to evaluate the effect of health education program on workers. An interventional study was conducted on 89 construction workers in Port Said City. Assessments of workplace environment and workers’ hydration status were done by using workplace evaluation checklist, wet-bulb globe temperature, urine specific gravity, and urine color chart. A pre-post-test design was used in the evaluation of workers’ knowledge and behavior regarding EHI. A health education program was conducted to improve workers’ knowledge and behavior; then, evaluation was done after 1 month. The most reported symptoms of heat illness were sweating (100.0%), dizziness (98.0%), and muscle pain (82.0%). Most workers showed signs of minimal dehydration (78.7%). There was a significant improvement in workers’ knowledge about EHI and behavioral action for prevention after health education. Construction workers are at high risk of exposure to EHI which raised the attention to provide educational programs which can guide workers to follow healthy behaviors and prevent EHI.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all participants of this study for their great cooperation.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Department of Community, Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

    Dalia A. El-Shafei & Sarah A. Bolbol

  2. Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

    Marwa B. Awad Allah & Amira E. Abdelsalam

Authors
  1. Dalia A. El-Shafei
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  2. Sarah A. Bolbol
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  3. Marwa B. Awad Allah
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  4. Amira E. Abdelsalam
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dalia A. El-Shafei.

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The Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, approved the study protocol.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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El-Shafei, D.A., Bolbol, S.A., Awad Allah, M.B. et al. Exertional heat illness: knowledge and behavior among construction workers. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 32269–32276 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3211-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3211-8

Keywords

  • Exertional heat illness
  • Construction workers
  • Knowledge
  • Behavior
  • Egypt