Prevalence of urinary symptoms and infections among traditional tannery workers in the Fez city of Morocco: case–control study

Background Many work activities such as leather tanning include hazards to work. Among these, biological hazards are particularly important and pose a serious problem to human health and environment. The aims of this study were to estimate the prevalence of dysuria and urinary tract infections among tannery workers and to identify their risk factors. Methods This observational survey was conducted among 220 tannery workers and 220 age-matched control group from Fez city in Morocco. Reported urinary symptoms, demographic and professional information were obtained by a standardized questionnaire collected from participants and were then compared among the two groups. The logistic regression model was used to explore the interaction between variables with significant association. Results The most common symptoms reported by tannery workers and controls were dysuria (36.4% vs. 1.8%, p