Background:
Workplace exposure as occurs in indoor bars and restaurants in Nigeria are the major areas where workers get exposed to such. This survey was conducted to compare the immediate reported health problems between a selected group of indoor bar workers and outdoor bar workers and evaluate their perceptions of about the dangers of passive tobacco smoke.

Methods:
We selected 42 clubs in Ibadan using simple random sampling and recruited 195 bar workers. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used for the study. The questionnaires had sections on knowledge about health effects of passive tobacco smoke and health problems of respondents as well as their attitude towards passive smoking. There was also a self-reported component of general health feeling, common ailments and the number of sick days off work.

Results:
The median duration of exposure to passive smoking was 2.5 months (range 1-13 months) in the indoor group. Seventy-nine respondents in the indoor group (83%) reported a poor health feeling as against 15 (15%) in the outdoor group. Cough and nasal irritation were reported in 10 (11%) of the workers in the indoor areas as against 8 (8%) in the outdoor areas (P = 0.042). Skin irritation were reported in 7 (7.4%) of those in the indoor areas as against 7 (7.0%) in the outdoor areas (P = 0.11), while acute eye irritation and watery discharges were reported in 14 (15%) of workers in the indoor areas as against 7 (7%) in the outdoor areas (P = 0.015), and nausea in 8 (8.5%) and 2 (2%) in indoor workers and outdoor workers respectively (P = 0.03).

Conclusions:
The reported health feeling and common ailments among this group of workers point to the fact that indoor exposure to passive smoking may have impacted on the health of the workers. Future studies could measure particulate matter and respiratory function.