Health status of cement workers in the United Arab Emirates

"The aim of this study was to investigate some of the health problems among cement workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A cross-sectional sample of 304 work ers was selected randomly from four cement factories in four Emirates. Most of the workers (88%) were from India, married (84%) and had received primary education or above (93%). Smoking was prevalent among 27% of the workers and about 24% consumed alcoholic beverages. Personal hygiene was found to be satisfactory among the workers. The main health symptoms reported by the cement workers were chronic cough, chronic bronchitis, burning, itching and runny eyes, headache and fatigue. Chronic bronchitis (p