TY - JOUR
T1 - Incidence of work-related asthma in members of a health maintenance organization
AU - Vollmer, William M.
AU - Heumann, Michael A.
AU - Breen, Victor R.
AU - Henneberger, Paul K.
AU - O'Connor, Elizabeth A.
AU - Villnave, Jacqueline M.
AU - Frazier, E. Ann
AU - Buist, A. Sonia
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank Dr Paul Blanc for his careful review and comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. The views and opinions expressed here are only those of the authors. Supported by contract #U60/CCU916057 from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
PY - 2005/12
Y1 - 2005/12
N2 - Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate work-related asthma among health maintenance organization (HMO) members. Recent reports suggest that the incidence of work-related, asthma may be much higher than Sentinel Event Notification Systems for Occupational Risks (SENSOR) data estimate. Methods: Using the HMO's electronic medical record, we identified 1747 persons with evidence of new or recurrent asthma. Interviews with 352 of them elicited information about workplace exposures, symptoms, and home environment. Industrial hygienists rated, the potential asthmagenicity of the respondents' work environments. Results: Based on the industrial hygienist ratings and, self-reported work-relatedness of asthma symptoms, we classified 33% of those interviewed as having potentially work-related asthma, suggesting an overall work-related asthma incidence/recurrence rate of 28 cases per 10,000. Conclusions: The contribution of occupation to the occurrence of adult onset asthma may be much higher than typically suggested in the literature.
AB - Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate work-related asthma among health maintenance organization (HMO) members. Recent reports suggest that the incidence of work-related, asthma may be much higher than Sentinel Event Notification Systems for Occupational Risks (SENSOR) data estimate. Methods: Using the HMO's electronic medical record, we identified 1747 persons with evidence of new or recurrent asthma. Interviews with 352 of them elicited information about workplace exposures, symptoms, and home environment. Industrial hygienists rated, the potential asthmagenicity of the respondents' work environments. Results: Based on the industrial hygienist ratings and, self-reported work-relatedness of asthma symptoms, we classified 33% of those interviewed as having potentially work-related asthma, suggesting an overall work-related asthma incidence/recurrence rate of 28 cases per 10,000. Conclusions: The contribution of occupation to the occurrence of adult onset asthma may be much higher than typically suggested in the literature.
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U2 - 10.1097/01.jom.0000183339.66057.34
DO - 10.1097/01.jom.0000183339.66057.34
M3 - Article
C2 - 16340711
AN - SCOPUS:29144437132
SN - 1076-2752
VL - 47
SP - 1292
EP - 1297
JO - Journal of occupational and environmental medicine
JF - Journal of occupational and environmental medicine
IS - 12
ER -