A comparative study on some cardiovascular indices among morticians exposed to formaldehyde in Benin City, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Some cardiovascular indices among morticians exposed to formaldehyde in a Teaching hospital and General hospital were studied.

Materials and Methods: Thirty subjects were studied and divided into three groups A, B, and C with 10 subjects in each group. Group A served as control with nil exposure to formaldehyde while groups B and C served as the test groups. Subjects in group B were morticians working in the Teaching hospital while subjects in group C were morticians working in the General hospital. Anthropometric measurements were taken and some cardiovascular indices were measured which included pulse rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, and mean arterial pressure. Statistical analysis was done using Graph Pad Prism version 8.0.1. Results were presented as Mean ± SEM. Analysis of Variance was used to compare the means of test and control values while post hoc test was done using Tukey’s multiple comparisons test and a P-value of less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Results: Results revealed significant increase in pulse rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, and mean arterial pressure among morticians of the Teaching hospital and General hospital when compared to the control and those of the General hospital morticians were higher compared to the Teaching hospital morticians.

Conclusion: It was therefore concluded that exposure to formaldehyde has deleterious effects on the cardiovascular health of morticians hence, there is an urgent need to seek ways of reducing the atmospheric levels of formaldehyde in our mortuaries in order to protect the cardiovascular health of the morticians.