Abdominal symptoms among sewage workers

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the prevalence of abdominal symptoms and the abdominal medical history among sewage workers. 142 male sewage workers and 137 male referents in 11 Swedish municipalities were addressed with a questionnaire about abdominal symptoms, medical history, occupational history and life style factors. The sewage workers suffered less from nausea [adjusted odds ratio (adjOR) = 0.18, 95% confidence interval (Cl) 0.04-0.84] than the referents. There was no significant difference in the three months prevalence of diarrhoea (adjOR = 1.7, 95% Cl = 0.79-3.4), dyspepsia (adjOR = 0.85, 95% Cl = 0.49-1.5) or irritable bowel syndrome (adjOR = 1.4, 95% Cl = 0.53-3.5). The sewage workers were affected more often by peptic ulcers during their present jobs than the referents, although the increased risk was not significant (adjOR = 1.4, 95% Cl = 0.31-6.1). The odds ratios were adjusted for age, use of tobacco products and alcohol consumption. The conclusion of this study was that sewage workers are less affected by nausea than comparable referents.