Abstract:
ABSTRACT
Background: Petrol is the non-specific term for petroleum which is used for inside
combustion of engines. Petrol filling workers are exposed to many harmful substances
present in their work places.
Objective: The objective of this study is to assess hematological parameters of petrol filling
workers compared with health control in Gondar town, North West Ethiopia.
Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted from January to March 2019
in Gondar town, North West Ethiopia. A total of 110 study participants comprising 55 study
group and 55 controls group that recruited by convenient sampling technique were used.
Socio-demographic data was collected using structured questionnaire and 3 ml of venous
blood was collected for the determination of hematological parameters. The data was entered
in Epi info 7.2.0.1 and analyzed using SPSS version of 20. Mean, standard deviation, median
and interquartile ranges were used to present the data. Moreover, independent t-test and
Mann-Whitney U- test were used for comparing hematological parameters between the two
groups. Pearson and Spearman’s rank-order correlations analysis were used to describe the
correlation of hematological parameters with duration of work. P value of < 0.05 was
statistically significant.
Results: The mean values of red blood cell count and hemoglobin values as well as median
values of hematocrit, mean cell hemoglobin concentration, platelets, Lymphocytes absolute
count and red cell distribution width were significantly increased among petrol filling
workers as compared with control group. However, the mean value of mean cell hemoglobin
value was significantly reduced in petrol filling workers compared with control group. Values
of red blood cell count and mean cell hemoglobin concentration showed strong positive
significant correlations with duration of petrol exposures. However, mean cell volume value
showed strong negative significant correlations.
Conclusion: Findings in this study should lead us to conclude that hematological indices
might be valuable to show early hematological variations in petrol filling workers who had
been exposed to petrol vapor as compared to the non- exposed group. However, further
follow- up study should be conducted.
