Predicting the Use of Personal Respiratory Protection Among Workers in Swine Confinement Buildings

The purpose of this study was to identify the variables that influence the frequency of personal respiratory protection (PRP) use by workers in swine confinement buildings (SCBs). The study was designed to answer four research questions: 1). What is the validity and reliability of the Personal Respiratory Protection Survey (PRPS)? 2). How frequently do workers in SCBs wear PRP? 3). How do demographics, occupational histories, and self-reported respiratory health histories influence the use of PRP in SCBs? and 4). What are the relationships of the constructs (benefits, barriers, susceptibility, severity, norms) to the use of PRP by workers in SCBs? The investigator developed an instrument that included a questionnaire to elicit demographic information, occupational and respiratory histories, and frequency of PRP use among SCB workers. In addition, the instrument included the PRPS that contained five Likert scales developed to measure five constructs theorized to influence the frequency of PRP use by SCB workers. To establish the instrument’s content validity a two-phase process included a critique by a group of eight experts and a pilot test with six SCB workers. Data for the study were collected from 503 SCB workers attending the 2003 World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa. Principle component analysis (PCA) and varimax rotation were used to establish construct validity and resulted in the identification of eight factors (i.e., benefits, norms, severity, susceptibility, personal barriers, knowledge barriers, external barriers, and habit barriers). Cronbach alpha values for the factors ranged from .58 to .91. Descriptive analysis found that 36.3% of the workers never used and 21.2% seldom used PRP at the worksite during the past year. Stepwise hierarchical regression was used to predict the frequency of PRP use with 38.9 % of the total variance explained by the study’s variables. Twelve percent of the variance was explained by a combination of the demographic, occupational history, and respiratory history variables. An additional 27% of the variance was explained by six of the theoretical constructs: knowledge deficit barriers, external barriers, norms, severity, benefits, and personal barriers. recommendations are shared for future research along with implications for theory and practice