Respiratory symptoms are frequently manifested among solid waste collectors. They are suffering from respiratory diseases because of frequent exposure to waste materials containing pathogenic materials and chemicals hazards for human being. Cross-sectional study was carried out to assess prevalence of respiratory symptoms and associated factors among solid waste workers in in Yeka sub city, Addis Ababa from March to April, 2016. The sub city has a total of 13 woredas. All woredas had different number of unions organized under small scale enterprises. Thirty eight micro and small enterprise unions from all woredas were selected randomly. Study subjects were taken from selected enterprise consecutively. Observational checklist and structured questionnaire were used to collect data associated with respiratory symptoms. Binary logistic regression was performed to identify the risk factors associated with respiratory symptoms. p-values less than 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. The overall prevalence of respiratory symptoms among solid waste collectors in Yeka sub city was 40.7%. Multivariate analysis revealed that respiratory symptoms prevalence was 2 times less likely among individuals use facemask on job (AOR 2, 95 % CI: 1.1–4). The prevalence of respiratory symptom was 2.6 times more likely among individuals having sleeping disorder (AOR 2.6, 95 % CI: 1.5–4.42). The prevalence of respiratory symptoms was 4.8 times more likely among study subjects who had past illness (AOR 4.8, 95 % CI: 3.2–7.22). Respiratory symptoms among solid waste collectors were high. So, individuals participating in collecting solid west should use facemask while collecting the wastes, municipal should change working hours and individuals who had history of past illness should get health information during enrollment.

Keywords: respiratory symptoms, solid waste, solid waste collectors