Occupational exposures associated with severe exacerbation of asthma

BACKGROUND: The exacerbation of asthma by workplace conditions is common, but little is known about which agents pose a risk.OBJECTIVE: We used data from an existing survey of adults with asthma to identify occupational exposures associated with severe exacerbation of asthma.DESIGN: Questionnaires w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease 2015-02, Vol.19 (2), p.244-250
Main Authors: Henneberger, P. K., Liang, X., Lillienberg, L., Dahlman-Höglund, A., Torén, K., Andersson, E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Asthma - epidemiology
Asthma - etiology
Asthma - physiopathology
Female
Humans
Job-Exposure Matrix
Male
Mycobacterium
Occupational Diseases - epidemiology
Occupational Diseases - etiology
Occupational Diseases - physiopathology
Occupational Epidemiology
Occupational Exposure - adverse effects
Prevalence
Severity of Illness Index
Surveys and Questionnaires
Tobacco Smoke Pollution - adverse effects
Work-Exacerbated Asthma
Young Adult
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Summary:BACKGROUND: The exacerbation of asthma by workplace conditions is common, but little is known about which agents pose a risk.OBJECTIVE: We used data from an existing survey of adults with asthma to identify occupational exposures associated with severe exacerbation of asthma.DESIGN: Questionnaires were completed by 557 working adults with asthma. Severe exacerbation of asthma in the past 12 months was defined as asthma-related hospitalization, or reports of both unplanned asthma care and treatment with a short course of oral corticosteroids. Occupational exposures for the same time period were assessed using an asthma-specific job exposure matrix. We modeled severe exacerbation to yield prevalence ratios (PRs) for exposures while controlling for potential confounders.RESULTS: A total of 164 participants (29%) were positive for severe exacerbation, and 227 (40.8%) were assessed as being exposed to asthma agents at work. Elevated PRs were observed for several specific agents, notably the irritant subcategories of environmental tobacco smoke (PR 1.84, 95%CI 1.34-2.51) among all participants, inorganic dusts (PR 2.53, 95%CI 1.37-4.67) among men, and the low molecular weight subcategory of other highly reactive agents (PR 1.97, 95%CI 1.08-3.60) among women.CONCLUSION: Among working adults with asthma, severe exacerbation was associated with several occupational agents.
ISSN:1027-3719
1815-7920
DOI:10.5588/ijtld.14.0132