Occupational Disease Surveillance: Occupational Asthma

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Hoffman, Richard E. ; Rosenman, Kenneth D. ; Stanbury, Martha J. ; Watt, Flint C.
• Description:
  In 1987, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), CDC, initiated the Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks (SENSOR), a pilot project conducted in association with state health departments. A goal of SENSOR is to improve the reporting and surveillance of work-related health conditions, including occupational asthma. Of the 10 states participating in the SENSOR program, six (Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Wisconsin) have identified occupational asthma as a condition targeted for surveillance. This report describes the implementation and early results of occupational asthma surveillance in Michigan, Colorado, and New Jersey, whose programs share certain features. SENSOR programs in each of these three states receive occupational asthma case reports by telephone from any health-care provider in the respective state. Information about the surveillance activity has been disseminated to groups of "sentinel providers" (such as allergists and pulmonary and occupational medicine specialists) who are most likely to encounter occupational asthma in their clinical practices. Characteristics of the case report (including its congruence with the surveillance case definition, the number of co-workers with exposures similar to those of the reported case-patient, and the number of co-workers with respiratory symptoms) determine priorities for follow-up workplace investigations conducted by the SENSOR program personnel. Each program sends to reporting physicians summaries of worksite investigations conducted in response to cases they have reported. To assist physicians in the evaluation of possible cases, the programs may provide other services such as peak flow meters (New Jersey and Colorado) or radioallergosorbent testing (Michigan). In addition, all three programs actively collaborate with academic occupational medicine programs in their states. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Asthma Environmental Exposure Lung Diseases Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Risk Assessment Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Bronchial Asthma Exposure Levels Pulmonary System Disorders Respiratory System Disorders Risk Factors Surveillance Work Environment Workers
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Publisher:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Colorado ; Massachusetts ; Michigan ; New Jersey ; New York ; Ohio ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 6 ; OSHA Region 8 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Texas ; Wisconsin
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies ; OD - Office of the Director
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  6 pdf pages
• Volume:
  39
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20057021
• Citation:
  MMWR 1990 Feb; 39(7):119-123
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1990
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3735f2a537a8ccb254cd1c4bca57e7496360a776e5dddaffa1601236e38a1d3eba37c39139589e9bad106cb6f3bce5144d86fcb18d36c04b3d53f8000eed2201
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/183218/cdc_183218_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 588.36 KB ]