Relación entre los hallazgos radiográficos y la sintomatología respiratoria en trabajadores expuestos a polvo de carbón en minería de socavón en el departamento de Boyacá, Colombia 2015

Introduction: Inhalation of coal dust favors the development of pneumoconiosis, causes irreversible lung damage identified radiologically. Symptoms are late and pathology can develop after years of exposure. Objective: To characterize the radiographic findings according to the methodology of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) 2000 and relating to respiratory symptoms in workers exposed to coal dust in mining tunnel work in the department of Boyaca, Colombia, 2015. Materials Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted in 232 miners, sociodemographic characteristics, signs and symptoms of the respiratory system were investigated. Chest radiographs were performed and the ILO methodology was applied to describe the findings. Statistical association was established through the Pearson chi-square test. For information processing statistics SPSS 2.3 program was used.
Results: The entire population was male, with an average age of 40.8 years. Picador office was the most frequent in 72.4% of workers. Radiographs showed small rounded opacities (q / q) in 42%. Spitting was the most frequent symptom 66.4%. A statistically significant relationship between smoking with parenchymal abnormality (p = 0.002) was found. Conclusion: The prevalence of pneumoconiosis for the department of Boyaca was 29.7% among workers valued according to the ILO criteria for reading chest radiographs, by what is required to implement control measures to minimize worker exposure