Electrocardiographic Findings and Anomaly Frequency in Turkish Workers Groups: A Cross-sectional and Observational Study

OBJECTIVE
Although electrocardiography scanning is routinely performed during the employment of employees in business sectors and during periodic controls, there is no large-scale study in our country that scans these electrocardiography data. The purpose of this study
was to analyze the resting electrocardiography properties and basal clinical characteristics of the worker groups in a wide age range working in different business lines in the heavy industry sector.

METHODS
Between April 2016 and January 2020, 9102 consecutive electrocardiographs were obtained during health examinations of working in İstanbul. In this study, 8607 electrocardiographs suitable for interpretation were included. Electrocardiographs were classified by 2 different cardiologists as major, minor anomaly, and normal according to the Minnesota code criteria.

RESULTS
Average age of the population was 30.47 ± 9.4 and 97% were males. A completely normal ECG was detected in 67.6%. Major electrocardiograph changes were detected in 4.6%, and minor anomalies were detected in 28.3%. Being 50 years older (P <.001) and working in a heavy chemical industry (P=,014) was found to be associated with major anomaly on electrocardiograph. In the multiple logistic regression analysis, the business line and electrocardiograph were found to be independently associated with major and minor anomalies (P=,022)

CONCLUSION
This study shows the electrocardiography findings of a large sample of Turkish workers from high-risk employment sectors. Electrocardiograph abnormalities were observed more frequently in heavy chemical industry and