Assessment of Biological Age and Aging Rate of Footwear Enterprises Workers

Abstract

Biological age (BA), as a criterion for assessing health, can also be viewed as a marker of material aging resulting from occupational exposure to factors in the industrial environment.
 Aim. To determine the biological age and aging rates of workers in the footwear industry.
 Materials and Methods. The research group included 200 workers from footwear enterprises (119 males and 81 females) aged 25-62. They were distributed based on their primary workshops and occupational hazards as follows: isolated exposure to occupational noise (Group 1): 61 males and 35 females, combined exposure to occupational noise and chemicals (Group 2): 57 males and 47 females. The control group - 54 workers: 26 males and 28 females who were not exposed to these production factors during their work activities. Additionally, the workers were divided into groups based on their work experience in the profession: up to 5 years, 6-14 years, and 15-21 years. BA and aging rates were determined using the methodology developed by the Institute of Gerontology of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine.
 Results and Discussion. The presence of unfavourable occupational factors in constant workplaces, particularly in isolated (occupational noise) and combined (occupational noise and chemical substances) conditions, is a significant contributing factor to premature aging among workers engaged in footwear production. In Group 1 of male workers, the BA-NBA (normative biological age) index exceeded 5.22 [4.81; 6.11], in Group 2 - 7.79 [6.29; 9.11], compared with the control - 3.96 [3.21; 4.2]. For female workers, this difference is 4.81 [4.29; 5.22] and 5.84 [5.26; 6,44]. The maximum aging rates were observed in work experience groups up to 5 years, regardless of the combination of occupational factors and young workers (age group up to 30 years) in both gender groups were for Group 1 - 8.11 [7.55; 8.29] (male) and 6.37 [6.15; 7.01] (female); Group 2 - 11.68 [11.18; 12.49] (male) and 8.81 [8.39; 9.54] respectively. Aging rates drop down with age and job experience, which can be attributed to workers' improved capacity to adapt to challenging working conditions.
 Conclusions. The determination of BA in workers can be utilized at the preliminary and periodic medical examinations to determine occupational risk groups and profession selection, as well as to evaluate the effect of elements in the production environment and labour process on the functional state of the body.