First months of employment and new onset of rhinitis in adolescents

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the incidence of rhinitis in adolescents, taking into account the duration and type of employment in holiday and vocational jobs, and to study latency until development of symptoms.Participants of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC)-II study in Munich and Dresden (Germany), who were enrolled in 1995, were re-contacted by a postal questionnaire in 2002 (aged 16-18 yrs). The questionnaire focused on allergic rhinitis, type and duration of all jobs, and potential confounders. All jobs held for o8 h?week -1 and o1 month were coded and occupational exposure was assigned by a job-exposure matrix. Out of the 3,785 participants, 964 reported an employment history. The median (25th-75th percentile) duration of employment was 10 (1-16) months. After adjusting for potential confounders, those working in high-risk occupations (odds ratio (OR) 1.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0-2.1) had an increased risk for new onset of rhinitis, especially those exposed to low molecular weight agents (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.1-2.8). The incidence of rhinitis was highest among those currently employed in a high-risk job for ,10 months.Teenagers who start working in high-risk occupations have a higher incidence of rhinitis compared with those not working. This increased risk might occur early on during employment.

Predictors of work-related sensitisation, allergic rhinitis and asthma in early work life

“…A limitation of our study might be that even though participants were followed for ,12 years, they were still very young in SOLAR II and just at the beginning of their working lives. Many studies have shown that incidence of asthma and allergies may be highest in the first 6-12 months of a job [18,32,35], whereas our participants had indicated average job durations of 3 months, with a maximum of 21 months. Therefore, exposure times might have been too short to detect potential adverse health effects.…”

Nasal and Ocular Effects in Foundry Workers Using the Hot Box Method

“…The OR for physician-diagnosed rhinitis in the exposed group was 0.6. 17 A previous study of our group did not indicate an association between exposure to ICA, MIC, or formaldehyde and reduced lung function, but nasal symptoms were reported by significant numbers of both the exposed workers and the referents. 11 Because of these results, nasal examination was added in the cross-sectional study described in this article.…”

Occupational Rhinitis: an Update

“…Studies have shown that teenagers who work in high-risk occupational environments have at greater risk of developing new onset rhinitis than unemployed controls and that symptoms can develop within the first 9 months of starting work [50]. As such, secondary prevention strategies are important to help prevent the progression of symptoms in sensitized individuals.…”