Introduction: Leather tanning may result in various occupational diseases. The aim of this study was to compare the relation between blood pressure levels and vocations in leather tanning.
Methods: Our study was conducted in Turkey's leading leather process plant located in Tuzla organised industry zone, between March 11 and May 30, 2005. All leather plants that consented to participate in our study were included. The blood pressure, height and weight of the workers were measured. Their ages, educational levels, smoking habits and hypertension history were obtained via interviewing the subjects. The relation between three main factors, i.e. age, body mass index (BMI), working period, and hypertension were analysed through multiple logistic regression analysis.
Results: 40.4 percent (295) of 730 workers' blood pressure values were found to be within normal limits. 59.6 percent (435) were found to be hypertensive. The hypertension correlation remained significant, along with BMI and their working period (p-values were 0.0001 and 0.035, respectively).
Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that BMI and working period have a key influence on the increased risk of hypertension, which leads us to consider the importance of occupational exposure. Different hypertension studies to be conducted in various occupational fields would likely be able to confirm our findings.