Epidemiological survey of chronic diseases on manufacturing employees (ESCOME): Design and methodology of a large cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background and objectives: The epidemiological survey of chronic diseases on manufacturing employees (ESCOME) was designed to a) assess the prevalence of chronic physical and mental diseases b) investigate socio-demographic, psychological and lifestyle determinants of chronic physical and mental diseases c) investigate job-related determinants of chronic physical and mental diseases among a large sample of Esfahan steel company (ESCO) employees. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at 2015 in two main phases among employees of ESCO, Isfahan, Iran. In the first phase, validated self-administered questionnaires were used to assess quality of life, mental health, lifestyle and job-related variables. In the second phase, clinical, biomedical and anthropometric indices were evaluated in the occupational medicine center of ESCO. Furthermore, a self-report questionnaire was used to collect comprehensive information about socio-demographic factors, smoking habits and chronic physical diseases. Results: Totally, 3063 employees from various departments of ESCO were recruited in the current study. The participants' mean age was 36.74 years (SD = 7.30, ranged from 21 to 64) and 91.5 of them were male. The participants predominantly worked in rotational shifts (55) and 63.5 were low-level blue-collar employees. Hyperlipidemia (29.7) and anxiety (8.9) were the most prevalent physical and mental diseases respectively. Conclusions: The ESCOME provided an opportunity to enhance our knowledge about the epidemiology and determinants of chronic physical and mental diseases among Iranian manufacturing employees.