Cardiopulmonary Changes Among Road Truck Pushers (Garuwa) In Basawa District, Sabon Gari Local Government Zaria, Kaduna State Of Nigeria

摘要

The cardiopulmonary changes among road truck pushers were studied in 200 subjects (100 experimental group and 100 control group). The cardiovascular parameters measured are blood pressure (systolic and diastolic), pulse and mean arterial blood pressure by auscultatory method using stethoscope and sphygmomanometer. The pulmonary parameters measured are peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1 ”) and FEV% by using Wright peak flow meter and vitalograph machine. The cardiopulmonary parameters (systolic and diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial blood pressure, PEFR, FEV1, FEV% and body mass index) of road truck pushers showed an appreciable significant statistical changes (p<.05) when compared to the control group. Introduction Cardiopulmonary function tests are specific measurement of cardiovascular and pulmonary function which is used to assess the degree of functional (9) abnormality due to cardiopulmonary disease. Road truck pushing (Garuwa) is one of the self employed jobs that are booming in northern part of Nigeria, due to scarcity of water. This community earns their living from commercializing pipe bone water by reaching the door-step of those in need of it via pushing 12 to 20 jerry cans (25 litres) of water in truck locally called in Hausa as “Garuwa”.Individuals that engage in this strenuous work use to have a lot of changes in the normal body physiology particularly cardiovascular and pulmonary parameters (8, 12) which manifest immediate or at the later years. Over the past years a variety of studies have shown that exercise induces considerable physiological changes in the immune system. The interaction between exercise stress and the immune system provide a unique opportunity to link basic and clinical physiology and to evaluate the role of underlying stress and (11, 13) immunological mechanism. Aging is associated with decrease of blood volume and total body water, a proneness to disturbance in water balance, homeostasis impairment while in extreme situations, and alterations (6, 1) of renal functions perception of thirst and cardiovascular performance. Accordingly, the aim of this investigation was to examine the comprehensive cardiovascular and pulmonary responses to the strenuous work of road truck pushers which may manifest immediately or at the later years. We hypothesized that prolonged strenuous exercise would be associated with decrease in cardiopulmonary functions. Materials And Methods Materials: The following materials were used for the test; peak flow meter (S48917 Vitalograph Ltd Buckingham, England), weighing scale, measuring tape, sphygmomanometer, stethoscope, stopwatch, spirometer (S48917 Vitalograph Ltd Buckingham, England), cotton wool, disinfectant (methylated spirit) and subjects (100 control group and 100 test group).Data collection: The study was compiled with the ethical committee guidelines of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria and the procedures followed were in accord with the ethical standards of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. The data of 200 male subjects (100 Road Truck pushers and 100 control group) was collected using a questionnaire in Basawa District Sabon Gari local government of Kaduna state, Nigeria. The data collected from all the subjects with an age range of 20-30 years by random sampling are age (years), weight (kg), height (m), body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (mmHg), pulse pressure (mmHg), heart rate (beat/min), peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR; L/min), mean arterial blood pressure (mmHg), respiratory rate (breath//min), forced vital capacity (L), force expiratory volume (L/sec) and percentage of force expiratory volume. Climate of the research area; The research was carried out in Zaria with the following climatic conditions:Statistical Analysis: All data are expressed as Mean ± S.E.M. The data obtained were analyzed using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Turkey-Kramer post hoc (3) test for multip