title: Asthma, employment status, and disability among adults treated by pulmonary and allergy specialists.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Identify risk factors for work disability among adults with asthma treated by pulmonary and allergy specialists.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional survey, including retrospective work history data.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-eight pulmonary and 16 allergy internal medicine subspecialists maintaining a registry of patient visits for asthma; 698 registered patients aged 18 to 50 years, of whom 601 (86%) were studied.
  
  
  METHODS
  Computer-assisted, telephone-administered structured interview assessing asthma severity, perceived general health status, asthma quality of life, demographics, and work history. Complete work disability defined as total work cessation attributed to asthma; partial work disability defined as change in job, duties, or reduction in work hours attributed to asthma.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Complete cessation of work due to asthma was reported by 40 (7%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5 to 9%) and partial work disability by 53 (10%; 95% CI, 7 to 12%) of 550 subjects with a history of labor force participation. Severity of asthma score predicted both complete disability (odds ratio [OR], 7.9; 95% CI, 4.2 to 15 per 10-point increment) and partial disability (OR 2.6; 95% CI, 1.6 to 4.2). Taking illness severity into account, job conditions, occupation, and work exertion carried a combined disability OR of 3.9 (95% CI, 1.7 to 8.6).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Work disability is common among adults with asthma receiving specialist care. Severity of disease is a powerful predictor, but not the sole predictor of disability in this group. Working conditions, including job-related exposures, are associated with added disability risk even after taking illness severity into account.
authors.affiliation: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 94143-0924, USA.
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Blanc
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cisternas
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: E H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Yelin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health; D015272:Pulmonary Medicine; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors