Skin infections among single

male migrants in Dharavi

working with SHED, Mumbai

MUDASIR KHAN MPH-SE

M2014PHSE012

Guide- Dr. ANIL KUMAR

Dharavi constitutes a major proportion of single male

migrants from North India working in different

industries.

Among the migrants the commonest health problem

identified is skin infections.

The pattern of skin diseases in India is influenced by

the developing economy, level of literacy, social

backwardness, varied climate, industrialization,

access to primary health care, and different religious,

ritual and cultural factors.

INTRODUCTION

RATIONALE

In urban slums of Mumbai, overcrowding in living

places, hot and humid climate, ignorance about

personal hygiene, poverty and illiteracy are some of

the social factors that may play an important role in

the occurrence of skin infections among the single

male migrants.

OBJECTIVES

To know the prevalence of skin diseases among

single male migrants in Dharavi.

To assess the relationship between the level of

education and skin disease.

To assess the relationship between occupation and

skin disease.

To assess the relationship between personal hygiene

and skin disease.

METHODOLOGY

METHOD : Cross sectional quantitative method

SAMPLE SIZE- 152 single male migrants

TOOL- semi-structured interview

TECHNIQUE- Face to face interview

SAMPLING METHOD : Convenience method

Data analysis: SPSS 20

STUDY AREA- Prem nagar and Naik nagar areas

of Dharavi.

INCLUSION CRITERIA-

Single male migrants

Above 18 years of age

FINDINGS

Among 152 respondents

10(6.6%) were illiterate

95(62.5%) had studied primary school

44(28.9%) studied secondary school

3(2%) studied higher secondary school.

Among 152 respondents

68(44.7%) were from Uttar Pradesh

45(29.6%) were from Bihar

17(11.2%) were from Uttaranchal

9(5.9%) were from Jharkhand

13(8.6%) were from West Bengal.

Among 152 respondents

99(65.1%) had tailoring as their profession

48(31.6%) worked in leather industries

5(3.3%) worked in glass recycle industry.

Among the respondents

17(11.2%) had complaint of rash

15(9.9%) had complaint of itching

4(2.6%) had complaint of dry and scaly skin.

Out of 152 respondents

116(76.3%) respondents had no skin complaints

36 respondents had symptoms of skin infection.

80(52.6%) respondents revealed that they never

wash hands.

67(44.1%) revealed that they wash hands 1-3 times

daily

5(3.3) revealed that they wash hands

4-6 times per day.

Among the 10 respondents who were illiterate, 2 had

skin infection.

Among the 95 respondents who had studied primary

school, 22 had skin infection.

Among the 44 respondents who had studied

secondary schooling, 10 had skin infection.

Among the 3 respondents who had higher secondary

education, 2 had skin disease.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SKIN DISEASE AND LEVEL OF EDUCATION

Among the 99 respondents who were in tailoring

work, 18 had symptoms of skin infection.

Among the 48 respondents working in leather

industries, 17 had symptoms of skin infection.

Among the 5 respondents from glass recycling

industries, 1 had symptoms of skin infection.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SKIN DISEASE AND OCCUPATION

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SKIN DISEASE AND PERSONAL HYGIENE

Among the 36 respondents who had symptoms of skin

infection, 23 bath daily whereas 13 do not take bath

regularly.

Among the 116 respondents who did not have any

skin infection symptoms, 110 take bath daily whereas

6 do not take bath daily.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SKIN DISEASE AND HAND WASH

Among 36 respondents having skin complaints, 22

never wash their hands, 13 wash their 1-3 times/day

and 1 respondent washes his hands 4-6 times daily.

Among the 116 respondents who did not have any

skin infection symptoms 58 never washed their

hands, 54 washed their hands 1-3 times daily and 4

respondents washed their hands 4-6 times/day.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SKIN DISEASE AND CHEMICAL USE IN WORK

Among 36 respondents who had skin infection, 18

used chemicals for their work while the other 18 didn’t.

Among 116 respondents who didn’t have skin

infection symptoms, 35 used chemicals for their work

while the rest(81) didn’t.

Although it was hypothesized that lower the education

level, more the ignorance among the respondents and

higher the chances of skin infections. But due a

relatively small sample size, it was difficult to prove

this hypothesis .

Data suggested that skin infections are more common

in migrants who work in leather industries. This may

be because workers in leather industries are subjected

to more use of various chemicals.

DISCUSSION

Almost 34% of respondents who agreed to using

chemicals during their work, had symptoms of skin

infections. Whereas among the respondents who did

not use chemicals for their work only 18% had skin

problems.

This result answers the question as to why the

migrants who work in leather industries have

more prevalence of skin infections than those who

work as tailors.

The prevalence of skin infections was found to be

higher in those individuals who never wash their

hands as compared to those who wash hands.

This can be related to the fact that better hygiene

practices avoid occurrence of skin infections.

Overcrowding and congested living conditions are

also factors responsible for skin problems. This can be

proved by the results which show that the prevalence

of skin infections is more than 25% in individuals who

sleep on common mattress with their room-partners.

Whereas, the prevalence is only 16% among those

who sleep on separate mattress.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The migrants should be educated and made aware

about the common skin infections.

They should be taught the benefits of practicing

personal hygiene.

They should be advised not to use each other’s

personal things like towels, soaps, footwear, etc.

The housing in which the migrants live should be

adequately ventilated and should have ample space.

Rubber gloves should be advised to the workers who

come in contact with chemicals during their work.

They should be advised to take bath daily as well as

wash hands before and after work.

Separate mattress should be used for sleeping rather

than a common one.

THANK YOU