Asthma control in the workplace

Boulet, Louis‐Philippe

doi:10.1183/09031936.00137713

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…enzyme-based products) have sensitizing potential, but most agents are assumed to act as respiratory irritants [11], and may cause injury of the airway epithelium, oxidative stress and long-lasting neurogenic inflammation [23, 24, 29]. Regardless of the exact mechanisms, our results support the need to consider occupation and potential exposure to disinfectants in clinical practice to improve management of patients with asthma [6, 30]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

“…Although the distinction between occupational and work-exacerbated asthma is important for legal considerations (workers’ compensation), it may be less relevant from a public health perspective as both occupational and work-exacerbated asthma have long-term socio-economic and health consequences [25]. To minimize risk of exacerbations and accelerated lung function decline in workers, experts have called for research on occupational exposures contributing to poor asthma control [6]. Our results are consistent with a few recent studies showing that exposure to occupational asthmagens [5, 26, 27], and in particular cleaning agents [5, 28], are associated with uncontrolled asthma.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Workplace exposures contribute to poor asthma control and severe exacerbations [5, 6], and their reduction has been suggested as one of the public health interventions likely to have the greatest effect in improvement of respiratory health [7]. A substantial part of work-related asthma cases have been identified in the healthcare industry, which is one of the largest employment sectors in the U.S. and in Europe [8, 9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Occupational exposure to disinfectants and asthma control in US nurses

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Disinfectant use has been associated with adverse respiratory effects among healthcare workers. However, the specific harmful agents have not been elucidated. We examined the association between occupational exposure to disinfectants and asthma control in the Nurses’ Health Study II, a large cohort of female nurses. Nurses with asthma were invited in 2014 to complete two questionnaires on their current occupation and asthma (response rate: 80%). Asthma control was defined by the Asthma Control Test (ACT). Exposure to major disinfectants was evaluated by a Job-Task-Exposure Matrix (JTEM). Analyses included 4,102 nurses with asthma (mean age: 58 years). Asthma control was poor (ACT=16–19) in 12% of nurses and very poor (≤15) in 6%. Use of disinfectants to clean medical instruments (19% exposed) was associated with poorly (odds ratio 1.37; 95%CI: [1.05–1.79]) and very poorly (1.88 [1.38–2.56]) controlled asthma (P-trend 0.004, after adjustment for potential confounders). Using JTEM estimates, exposure to formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, hypochlorite bleach, hydrogen peroxide and enzymatic cleaners was associated with poor asthma control (all P-trend<0.05); exposure to quaternary ammonium compounds and alcohol was not. Use of several disinfectants was associated with poor asthma control. Our findings suggest targets for future efforts to prevent worsening of asthma control in healthcare workers.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Occupational exposure to disinfectants and asthma control in US nurses

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…[1,2] Occupational exposures may also cause exacerbation of a pre-existing asthma,[3] and are associated with a more severe and uncontrolled disease. [4–6] Healthcare workers account for a large part of work-related asthma cases in the U.S.[7] and other developed countries,[8–10] especially among women. [11] Among healthcare workers, nurses, nurse aides and cleaning workers have been identified as higher risk occupations for asthma.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asthma history, job type and job changes among US nurses

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives Nurses are at increased risk of occupational asthma, an observation that may be related to disinfectants exposure. Whether asthma history influences job type or job changes among nurses is unknown. We investigated this issue in a large cohort of nurses. Methods The Nurses' Health Study II is a prospective study of U.S. female nurses enrolled in 1989 (ages 24-44 years). Job status and asthma were assessed in biennial (1989-2011) and asthma-specific questionnaires (1998, 2003). Associations between asthma history at baseline (diagnosis before 1989, n=5, 311) and job type at baseline were evaluated by multinomial logistic regression. The relations of asthma history and severity during follow-up to subsequent job changes were evaluated by Cox models. Results The analytic cohort included 98,048 nurses. Compared to nurses in education/administration (likely low disinfectant exposure jobs), women with asthma history at baseline were less often employed in jobs with likely high disinfectant exposure, such as operating rooms (odds ratio: 0.73[95%CI, 0.63-0.86]) and ER/inpatient units (0.89[0.82-0.97]). During 22-year follow-up, nurses with a baseline history of asthma were more likely to move to jobs with lower exposure to disinfectants (hazard ratio: 1.13[1.07-1.18]), especially among those with more severe asthma (hazard ratio for mild persistent: 1.13; moderate persistent 1.26; severe persistent: 1.50, compared to intermittent asthma, P trend: 0.004). Conclusion Asthma history was associated with baseline job type and subsequent job changes among nurses. This may partly reflect avoidance of tasks involving disinfectant use, and may introduce bias in cross-sectional studies on disinfectant exposure and asthma in nurses.

show abstract

Asthma control in the workplace

Cited by 2 publications

References 26 publications

Occupational exposure to disinfectants and asthma control in US nurses

Occupational exposure to disinfectants and asthma control in US nurses

Asthma history, job type and job changes among US nurses

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About