[Health impact of working conditions at the Ruashi mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo].

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the health impact of working conditions at the Ruashi mine in the Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional etiological study was conducted in two cohorts including 100 miners and 109 students. Data necessary to allow comparison disease symptoms in the two cohorts were collected using a questionnaire. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated. A secondary analysis was performed to compare different mine workstations, i.e., diggers (n=61) versus non-diggers (n=39). Two logistical regression models were used to estimate adjusted OR and 95% CI for the association between occupation/workstation and disease symptoms.

Results: In comparison with students, miners exhibited higher frequencies for all symptoms even after adjustment. The highest ORs were observed for musculoskeletal disorders, i.e., low back pain (OR=36.5) and upper (OR = 20.7) or lower (OR = 18.3)] extremity pain. They were followed by respiratory disorders (OR = 5.91) and headache (OR = 5.34).

Conclusion: The high exposure frequencies and OR's observed in this study underline the negative health impact of mine working conditions. Further occupational study will be needed to obtain and compare more data.