title: Work-related exacerbation of asthma among adults treated by pulmonary specialists.
abstract: The most common chronic occupational lung disease is occupational asthma. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of work-related respiratory symptoms (WRS) in asthmatic adults at pulmonary clinics. A cross-sectional study was performed. Current employed subjects were subdivided into 2 groups by WRS status according to questionnaire mainly based on one developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Subjects' occupation and workplace exposures were evaluated by asthma-specific job exposure matrix (JEM). Thirty-nine of 179 current employed asthmatics had WRS. Subjects with WRS were more likely to have self-reported allergy and exposure to low-molecular-weight antigens (prevalence ratio [PR]: 2.7). The 2 most frequent occupational classes for asthmatics with WRS were trades, transport and equipment operators, and processing and manufacturing. Self-reported allergy, high-risk exposures, and occupations unique to processing, manufacturing, and utilities were estimated to be risk factors of WRS.
authors.affiliation: a Occupational Sleep Research Center (OSRC), Baharloo Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Khosro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sadeghniiat-Haghighi
authors.affiliation: a Occupational Sleep Research Center (OSRC), Baharloo Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Omid
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Aminian
authors.affiliation: a Occupational Sleep Research Center (OSRC), Baharloo Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Arezu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Najafi
authors.affiliation: b Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Masih Daneshvari Hospital , Tehran , Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Soussan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salehpour
authors.affiliation: b Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Masih Daneshvari Hospital , Tehran , Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eslaminejad
authors.affiliation: c Department of Internal Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Imam Khomeini Hospital , Tehran , Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Derakhshan Deilami
authors.affiliation: d Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran , Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: Keramat
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nourijelyani
authors.affiliation: e Department of Medicine and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto , Toronto , Canada.
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Tarlo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D009790:Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adult asthma; job exposure matrix; occupation; occupational exposure; work-related asthma