Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Mar 3;18(4):390-398.
doi: 10.47626/1679-4435-2020-517.

Quality of life, lifestyle, and working environment of women in the footwear industry

Lilian Rios  1 , André Oliveira Paggiaro  1 , Rosa Aurea Quintella Fernandes  1
Affiliations

Quality of life, lifestyle, and working environment of women in the footwear industry

Lilian Rios et al. Rev Bras Med Trab. .

Abstract

Introduction: The footwear industry uses glue and other organic solvents (such as ethyl acetate, acetone, xylene, and toluene) in its manufacturing process; these substances, when associated with an inadequate working environment, can potentialize health problems and interfere with the perception of quality of life by female workers.

Objectives: To verify the quality of life of women working in the footwear industry and its association with the self-reported morbidities of these workers, their working environment, and lifestyle habits.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, with a quantitative approach, developed with 120 women shoemakers in the city of Franca, state of São Paulo. For evaluating quality of life, we used the abbreviated version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument.

Results: The most common self-reported morbidities were anxiety (65%), stress (62.5%), irritability (49.2%), sleep alterations (35.8%), fatigue (30%), and muscle cramps (30%). The physical domain presented the highest mean score (68.0), followed by the psychological (67.1) and social relationships domains (66.4). Environment was the domain with the lowest mean score (53.5). Quality of life was associated with the following self-reported morbidities: muscle cramps (p = 0.010), breathing difficulty (p = 0.029), tingling in the upper limbs (p = 0.010), decline in manual skills and work capacity, and pain (p < 0.001); the physical domain was the most affected. We observed a statistically significant difference in mean physical domain scores (p = 0.006) of women who used personal protection equipment; noise in the workplace interfered with the social relationships domain (p = 0.019), while working position interfered with the social relationships (p = 0.021) and environment (0 = 0.047) domains.

Conclusions: The self-reported morbidities reported here and some working conditions negatively interfered with the women's quality of life.

Keywords: lifestyle, occupational health; quality of life; working environment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: Nenhum

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Sindicato da Indústria de Calçados de Franca . Relatório Mensal, NICC Polo Franca. Franca: Sindifranca; 2016. [16 Out. 2018]. Disponível em: http://www.sindifranca.org.br/estatisticas.html.
    1. Brasil. Ministério do Trabalho e Previdência Social . ISPER - Informações para o Sistema Público de Emprego e Renda - Dados por Município. Brasília: Ministério do Trabalho e Previdência Social; 2014. [16 Out. 2018]. Disponível em: http://bi.mte.gov.br/bgcaged/caged_isper/index.php.
    1. Prazeres TJ, Navarro VL. Shoes stitched, workers unstitched: a study on working and health conditions among women factory workers in the footwear industry in Franca, São Paulo State, Brazil. Cad Saúde Pública. 2011;27(10):1930–1938. - PubMed
    1. Azari MR, Hosseini V, Jafari MJ, Soori H, Asadi P, Mousavion SMA. Evaluation of occupational exposure of shoe makers to benzene and toluene compounds in shoe manufacturing workshops in East Tehran. Tanaffos. 2012;11(4):43–49. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Koch P. Occupational allergic contact dermatitis from epoxy resin systems and possibly acetone in a shoemaker. Contact Dermatitis. 2002;46(6):362–363. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources