Affiliations: [a] Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol Iran and Zabol Medicinal Plants Research Center, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran | [b] Department of Public Health, School of Public Health, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran | [c] Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran
Abstract: Over the last decade, the invasion of haze to the southwest of Iran and Sistan region has seriously threatened the health of the residents in this region, leading to a lot of financial and human losses. Some of the health-relevant effects of this phenomenon include the aggravation of respiratory, psychological, cardiovascular, ocular and skin diseases. Hence it seems of necessity to conduct some research to investigate the effects of haze on individuals’ health. To this end, the present study aimed to examine the effects of haze on the general health of women employed in Zabol University of Medical Sciences. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in Zabol University of Medical Sciences and the required data regarding the effects of haze on the employed women’s general health was collected using a researcher-made 21-item questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by some experts and its reliability was also accepted by a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 92%. More than half of the participants complained of psychological problems imposed by exposure to haze. The most and the least frequent complaints recorded by the participants were about respiratory problems (dyspnea, 78.1%) and skin problems (urticarial, 16.1%), respectively. Moreover, 6.2% of the women also reported abortions caused by exposure to haze. The findings of the study about the various complications caused by exposure to haze necessitate the immediate and urgent measures to solve the haze problems and to use all facilities and public media to train people how to deal with this hazardous phenomenon.
