title: Airway obstruction among Latino poultry processing workers in North Carolina.
abstract: This analysis was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of airway obstruction among Latino poultry processing workers. Data were collected from 279 poultry processing workers and 222 other manual laborers via spirometry and interviewer-administered questionnaires. Participants employed in poultry processing reported the activities they perform at work. Participants with forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) or FEV1/forced expiratory volume (FVC) below the lower limits of normal were categorized as having airway obstruction. Airway obstruction was identified in 13% of poultry processing workers and 12% of the comparison population. Among poultry processing workers, the highest prevalence of airway obstruction (21%) occurred among workers deboning chickens (prevalence ratio: 1.75; 95% confidence interval: 0.97, 3.15). These findings identify variations in the prevalence of airway obstruction across categories of work activities.
authors: a Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, School of Medicine , Wake Forest University , Winston-Salem , North Carolina , USA.
authors: Maria C
authors: MC
authors: Mirabelli
authors: Arjun B
authors: AB
authors: Chatterjee
authors: Dana C
authors: DC
authors: Mora
authors: Thomas A
authors: TA
authors: Arcury
authors: Jill N
authors: JN
authors: Blocker
authors: Haiying
authors: H
authors: Chen
authors: Joseph G
authors: JG
authors: Grzywacz
authors: Antonio J
authors: AJ
authors: Marín
authors: Mark R
authors: MR
authors: Schulz
authors: Sara A
authors: SA
authors: Quandt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005525:Food-Processing Industry; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011200:Poultry; D015995:Prevalence; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: agriculture; airway obstruction; emigrants and immigrants; epidemiology; minority health; rural health; work