Background Acute and chronic mountain sickness, resulting from maladaptation to high-altitude hypoxia, poses a great health concern. This study aimed to identify risk factors for heavy symptom-based clinical burden among high-altitude electrical workers. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 444 electrical workers stationed in the highlands of Sichuan, China, completed a symptom questionnaire and were classified as heavy (≥3 symptoms) or light (3) clinical burden. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression identified factors associated with heavy clinical burden. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) was used to examine the nonlinear relationship between total duration of high-altitude exposure and clinical burden. Results Of the 444 electrical workers, 218 (49.10%) had a heavy clinical burden. The most frequent symptoms were headache (50.90%), sleep disturbance (46.40%), and fatigue (45.95%). Compared to those with light clinical burden, significant differences were detected in age, ethnicity, alcohol consumption, hypertension, and altitude of residence in the heavy group ( p 0.05), which were all associated with heavy clinical burden in univariable analyses, but only age (OR: 1.02; 95% CI: 1.01–1.04), alcohol consumption (OR: 2.36; 95% CI: 1.55–3.61), and hypertension (OR: 1.71; 95% CI: 1.09–2.70) remained statistic significance in multivariable analyses. RCS revealed a U-shaped relationship between total duration of high-altitude exposure and clinical burden, with increased risk at 6 months and 39 months. Conclusion Age, alcohol consumption, and hypertension are independent risk factors for heavy clinical burden in high-altitude electrical workers. Moreover, both short (6 months) and prolonged (39 months) duration of high-altitude exposure may confer risk for heavy clinical burden.
Su et al. (Wed,) studied this question.