Work related asthma - diagnosis and management.
BACKGROUND
Work related asthma (WRA) is a common condition and is under recognised in Australia. Work related asthma refers to the development of new asthma due to occupational factors (occupational asthma) and the worsening of asthma control due to occupational factors (work exacerbated asthma).


OBJECTIVE
This article discusses the diagnosis and management of work related asthma in Australia.


CONCLUSIONS
All clinicians who treat adult patients with asthma should enquire about the patient's occupation. Key features of WRA include: a temporal association between asthma symptoms and work activities (especially an improvement in symptoms when away from the workplace), identification of relevant workplace exposures (eg. use of a known cause of occupational asthma) and the development of respiratory symptoms in coworkers. Optimal management of WRA requires early recognition and accurate diagnosis. Increased awareness of WRA and the introduction of effective workplace control should reduce the prevalence of WRA and the overall burden of asthma in our community.
Hoy
Ryan F
RF
Department of Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. r.hoy@alfred.org.au
Abramson
Michael J
MJ
Sim
Malcolm R
MR
D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016273:Occupational Exposure