In Colombia, coal miner pneumoconiosis is considered a public health problem due to its irreversibility, high cost once diagnosed, and lack of data related to its prevalence in the country. Therefore, a cross-sectional study was undertaken in order to determine the prevalence of pneumoconiosis in underground coal mining workers at the Boyacá and Cundinamarca departments. The results showed a 35. 9% prevalence of pneumoconiosis in the study group (42. 3% in Cundinamarca and 29. 9% in Boyacá). A association was found between a radiologic diagnosis of pneumoconiosis with a medium risk level of exposure to carbon dust (OR: 2, 901, 95% CI: 0. 937, 8, 982), within medium size companies (OR: 2. 301, 95%CI: 1. 260- 4. 201), and length of mining work greater than 25 years (OR: 3, 222, 95%CI: 1. 806-5. 748) plus a history of smoking for more than one year OR: 1, 479, 95%CI: 0. 938-2. 334). These results support the need to generate intervention strategies aimed to prevent the identified factors, timely identification and effective treatment of pneumoconiosis in coal miners, in which the commitment of the General Health Attorney and the Social Security System ensure the workers compensation rights.
