Arterial hypertension and cardiovascular risk factors in employees of underground mining ore minerals

Introduction. The wide spread of mining in Russia determines the high relevance of the preservation of labor resources in this industry, the prevention of occupational and production-related morbidity, reducing cases of temporary and permanent disability. Mine mining is characterized by the impact on workers of several nonspecific harmful (dangerous) factors: industrial noise, general and local vibration, the severity of labor, heating or cooling microclimate, low light. The impact of these factors predisposes to the development of pathology of the cardiovascular system.

The aim of the study was to study the prevalence of hypertension among underground miners, clinical features and changes in the complex of biochemical risk factors for cardiovascular complications.

Materials and methods. The observation group consisted of 98 employees of underground chrome ore mining. The comparison group (working in conditions outside the influence of the studied production factors) consisted of 75 employees of this enterprise. All employees surveyed are male. To study the impact of working conditions on the health of workers, workplaces with a characteristic set of harmful production factors (chrome, dust, noise, vibration, labor severity, labor intensity, cooling microclimate) and the same working modes (sliding three-shift schedule with a shift duration of eight hours) were selected. The study of laboratory parameters (markers of risk of cardiovascular disease) was performed by unified General clinical, biochemical and enzyme immunoassay methods.

Results. In the group of underground miners, the prevalence of arterial hypertension was established (in 31.3% in the observation group and in 17.2% of the surveyed in the comparison group, p=0.042), which becomes statistically significant when the work experience is more than 10 years. The study established the clinical features of the anamnesis and objective status of employees of the mine for the extraction of chrome ore. The laboratory study in the group of miners revealed the presence of a number of paraclinic syndromes: systemic inflammation and immune activation syndrome, dyslipidemia syndrome, oxidative stress syndrome, hormonal profile disorder, renal dysfunction syndrome.

Conclusions. Employees of underground mining of chrome ore are characterized by a high incidence of hypertension with experience of more than 10 years. The clinical and instrumental changes revealed in the work in the observation group give grounds for the development of directed preventive programs in this category of ore mine workers.

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