BackgroundGender related differences in respiratory disease have been documented. The aim of this study was to investigate gender related differences in respiratory findings by occupation. We analyzed data from 12 of our previously published studies.MethodsThree thousand and eleven (3011) workers employed in "organic dust" industries (1379 female and 1632 male) were studied. A control group of 806 workers not exposed to any kind of dust were also investigated (male = 419, female = 387). Acute and chronic respiratory symptoms and lung function were measured. The weighted average method and the Mantel-Haentszel method were used to calculate the odds ratios of symptoms. Hedge's unbiased estimations were used to measure lung function differences between men and women.ResultsThere were high prevalences of acute and chronic respiratory symptoms in all the "dusty" studied groups compared to controls. Significantly less chronic cough, chronic phlegm as well as chronic bronchitis were found among women than among men after the adjustments for smoking, age and duration of employment. Upper respiratory tract symptoms by contrast were more frequent in women than in men in these groups. Significant gender related lung function differences occurred in the textile industry but not in the food processing industry or among farmers.ConclusionThe results of this study suggest that in industries processing organic compounds there are gender differences in respiratory symptoms and lung function in exposed workers. Whether these findings represent true physiologic gender differences, gender specific workplace exposures or other undefined gender variables not defined in this study cannot be determined. These data do not suggest that special limitations for women are warranted for respiratory health reasons in these industries, but the issue of upper respiratory irritation and disease warrants further study.

Our data suggest that workers employed in the pharmaceutical industry may develop respiratory symptoms accompanied by ventilatory impairment.

Our study found increased immunological reactions in the tobacco workers. However, with the possible exception of lung function at low lung volume in female workers, these reactions do not appear to contribute significantly to the symptoms and lung function abnormalities seen in these workers. Am. J. Ind. Med. 45:76-83, 2004.

This article describes respiratory symptoms and lung function in 98 fi sh processing female workers employed in a fi sh processing plant located on the Croatian Adriatic coast and 95 matching controls. The study included chronic and acute respiratory symptoms which developed during the shifts. Lung function measurements included forced vital capacity (FVC), one-second forced expiratory volume (FEV 1 ) and maximal expiratory rates at 50 % and the last 25 % (FEF 50 , FEF 25 ). Chronic respiratory symptoms were signifi cantly dominant in fi sh processing workers compared to controls. The most common chronic symptoms were hoarseness (57.1 %), nasal catarrh (51.0 %), chronic cough (42.9 %), chronic phlegm (34.7 %), and frequent chest cold (35.7 %). Exposed smokers and nonsmokers had a similar prevalence of chronic respiratory symptoms. Acute symptoms over the work shift were high, with headache in lead (smokers: 62.5 %; nonsmokers: 56.1 %). Most of the ventilatory capacity parameters were signifi cantly lower than predicted, FEF 25 in particular, indicating obstructive changes predominantly in the smaller airways. These fi ndings suggest that fi sh processing workers are prone to developing acute and chronic respiratory symptoms as well as to lung function changes. This calls for medical and technical preventive measures to be introduced in the work environment of the fi sh processing plant.

A B S T R A C TThis study investigated 5-year