Cardiovascular risk in seasonal migrant workers in Southern Italy: clinical-epidemiological evaluation

As part of the GOV.E.R.NI projects (Effective Government in Reports for New Integrations) and Più Su.Pr.Eme, project that is part of the three-year plan to combat labor exploitation in agriculture and the caporalato approved within the specific Caporalato Table promoted by the Directorate General for Immigration of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security with the aim of combating and overcoming all forms of serious labor exploitation and serious marginality and vulnerability of migrant workers in the territories that present the most critical issues in Southern Italy. The research institute FARBAS has carried out health surveillance activities on migrant workers in Basilicata with the aim of assessing the state of health and conditions that may put the health of workers at risk.

The epidemiological study concerns the analysis and study of data obtained from a cohort of 135 migrant workers hosting in two reception centers located in the territory of Basilicata (Italy) who have voluntarily joined the health screening activities by means of electrocardiogram examination, spirometry tests, blood pressure measurement and physiological and pathological history. Enlisted come from 12 Central African countries, with a mean age of 37.08 ± 9.8, of male gender.

Analysis of clinical and instrumental data shows that 51.1 % of patients have higher than optimal blood pressure values; 42.2 % have higher than normal systolic blood pressure values, 11.1% have above-normal diastolic blood pressure values. From the analysis of the data obtained from the instrumental examinations it is clear that 20% of the subjects present an electrocardiogram indicating a pathological alteration and 14% of the population present an altered spirometry trace attributable to a pathological state. 64% of the population has a normal BMI, the overweight rate is 30.8 % while 1.5% has grade I obesity and the remaining 3.7 % is underweight.

The study shows a significant prevalence of arterial hypertension, cardiovascular disease and pathological changes in the respiratory system. In particular, the presence of risk factors such as high blood pressure associated with work factors such as maintaining difficult postures and working in the presence of heat represent a high risk to the health of seasonal workers working in the field of tomato harvesting in Southern Italy [1]. Future public health and preventive medicine actions should be geared towards precision health surveillance that can control, manage and reduce this risk to the health of workers.