Effect of temperature variations in work environment on the cardiac stress in handloom weavers: implication of climate change in future

Abstract

Background: Handloom industry, next to the agriculture, is providing livelihood to millions in India. This job mainly performed by the male handloom weavers is manual in nature and physically demanding. The present study was aimed to evaluate the cardiac stress in handloom weavers and additional effect of heat stress in summer season on it. Methods: The study was conducted on 82 handloom weavers during both summer and winter seasons. Polar heart rate monitor was used to measure resting, working and recovery heart rates and properly calibrated sphygmomanometer was used to measure working and resting blood pressure. Other cardiac stress indices were also calculated. Results: Different cardiac parameters, i.e. net cardiac cost (NCC), relative cardiac cost (RCC), maximum of working heart rate (WHRmax) and Brouha’s index are significantly (p<0.05) higher in summer season than in the winter season. The percentage of recovery (PREC) and heart rate reserve (HRR) are significantly higher in winter season. Conclusion: The present study concludes that the work-rest cycle need to be redesigned so that the handloom weavers can work in less stressed condition especially in the summer season.

Keywords

• Handloom Weavers
• Cardiac Stress Indices
• Seasonal Variations
• Physiological Variations
• Climate Change