Relationship between occupational hazards and pregnancy complications in health care workers in Gonabad University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Aims: Reproductive disorders are mentioned as one of the ten main diseases and work-related injuries and working in the health care field may affect pregnancy and its complications .The aim of this study was to observe the adverse consequences of pregnancy between female health care workers in relation to Occupational risk factors Materials&Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 153 female healthcare workers of Gonabad University of Medical Sciences Retrospectively during 2017-2020 who were selected by a Simple random sampling method. Data were collected through a checklist of women Health Care Workers.Data analysis was performed using Descriptive statistics methods , Chi-Square, Mann–Whitney U test with spss22 at a significant level less than 0.05. Results: The frequency of pregnancy complications in female employees was 37.9%. frequency of Premature labour 9.8%, abortion at 3.9%, low birth weight at 6.5%, intrauterine growth restriction 4.6%, spotting and bleeding 25.5%, and pre eclampsia 2% was reported. There was a significant association between some occupational hazards such as stress(0.04), exposure to anesthetic gas(0.015), prolonged standing(0.035), shift work(0.039), and workplace(0.012) with pregnancy complications.There was significant relationship between exposure to anesthetic gas with preterm labour(0.015)and Hours of work with low birth weight(0.013) significant relationship between shift work(0.039), long-standing(0.035) and workplace (0.012)with spotting and bleeding was observed. Conclusion: Our study showed that Some job characteristics and occupational hazards in health care workers affect the mother and the fetus and increase the risk of some pregnancy complications. Therefore, the support of pregnant health care workers in their work environment and the development of appropriate solutions in this regard must be taken into consideration by relevant organizations