University of Tasmania
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

Occupational asthma in New Zealanders

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-16, 16:54 authored by Fishwick, D, Pearce, N, D'Souza, WJ, Lewis, S, Town, I, Armstrong, R, Kogevians, M, Crane, J
Objectives-To examine the effect of occupation on respiratory symptoms in a randomly selected adult population aged 20-44 years. Methods-It is based on the phase II sampling of the New Zealand part of the European Community respiratory health survey. 1609 people (63.9% response rate) completed a detailed respiratory questionnaire. Of those responding, 1174 (73%) underwent skin tests and 1126 (70%) attended to undergo methacholine bronchial challenge. Current occupation was recorded and a previous occupation was also recorded if it had led to respiratory problems. 21 occupational groups were used for analysis for the five definitions of asthma: wheezing in the previous 12 months; symptoms related to asthma; bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR); BHR with wheezing in the previous 12 months; and BHR with symptoms related to asthma. Results-Prevalence odds ratios (ORs) were significantly increased for farmers and farm workers (OR 4-16, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.33 to 13.1 for the combination of wheezing and BHR). Increased risks of prevalence of asthma were also found for laboratory technicians, food processors (other than bakers), chemical workers, and plastic and rubber workers. Workers had also been divided into high and low risk exposure categories according to relevant publications. The prevalence of wheezing was greater in the high risk group (OR 1.57, 95% CI 0.83 to 2.95) than in the low risk group. Atopy was associated with asthma, but the prevalence of atopy did not differ significantly between occupational exposure groups. The attributable risk of wheezing that occurred after the age of 15 years and that was estimated to be due to occupational exposure (based on the defined high risk group) was 1.9%, but this increased to 3.1% when farmers and foo d processors (other than bakers) were also included in the high risk group. Conclusions-This population based study has identified certain occupations significantly associated with combinations of asthmatic symptoms and BHR.

History

Publication title

Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Volume

54

Pagination

301-306

ISSN

1351-0711

Department/School

Menzies Institute for Medical Research

Publisher

BMJ Publishishing Group

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Clinical health not elsewhere classified

Usage metrics

    University Of Tasmania

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC