Occupational Exposures and Asthma Among Nursing Professionals

Details

• Personal Author:
  Arif AA ; Delclos GL ; Serra C
• Description:
  OBJECTIVES: To identify occupational exposure risk factors associated with the development of new-onset asthma in nurses. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was administered to a sample of licensed Texas nurses (response rate 70%) and compared to three other healthcare professional groups. Nursing professionals were defined based on self-reported longest held job. Outcome variables were physician-diagnosed new-onset asthma after entry into the healthcare profession and symptoms associated with bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR). Occupational exposures were ascertained through a job-exposure matrix, grouped into four categories: cleaning-related tasks, use of powdered latex gloves, administration of aerosolised medications, and tasks involving adhesive compounds, glues and/or solvents. RESULTS: After adjustment for age, sex, ethnicity, atopy, smoking, body mass index and seniority, reported asthma was significantly greater among nursing professionals involved in medical instrument cleaning (OR = 1.67, 95% CI 1.06 to 2.62) and exposure to general cleaning products and disinfectants (OR = 1.72, 95% CI 1.00 to 2.94). Use of powdered latex gloves during 1992-2000 was associated with 1.6 times (95% CI 1.01 to 2.50) the odds of reported asthma. In univariate analysis, exposure to adhesives, glues and/or solvents was associated with a twofold increase in the odds of reported asthma, but not after adjustment for covariates. Similarly, the odds of BHR-related symptoms were significantly greater among nursing professionals exposed to general cleaning products and disinfectants (OR = 1.57, 95% CI 1.11 to 2.21) and adhesives, glues and/or solvents used in patient care (OR = 1.51, 95% CI 1.08 to 2.12). CONCLUSION: Among nursing professionals, workplace exposures to cleaning products and disinfectants increase the risk of new-onset asthma. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Asthma Asthma, Occupational Biological Factors Chemistry Disinfectants Dust Environmental Monitoring Epidemiology Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Personnel Hypersensitivity Irritants Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Hypersensitivity Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Surveys And Questionnaires Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Allergens Allergic-reactions Allergies Biological-effects Biological-factors Bronchial-asthma Chemical-hypersensitivity Chemical-properties Cleaning-compounds Dust-exposure Dust-particles Dusts Exposure-assessment Exposure-methods Gloves Health-care-personnel Medical-personnel Medical-rescue-services Medical-research Medical-surveys Medicinal-chemicals Nursing Occupational-exposure Occupational-health-nursing Respiratory-hypersensitivity Respiratory-irritants Respiratory-system-disorders Work-environment Work-performance Work-practices Worker-health

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• ISSN:
  1351-0711
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  274-278
• Volume:
  66
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20035370
• Citation:
  Occup Environ Med 2009 Apr; 66(4):274-278
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr Ahmed A Arif, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Health and Human Services, 9201 University City Blvd, CHHS Building 429, Charlotte, NC 28223
• Email:
  aarif@uncc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Performing Organization:
  University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20010930
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20050929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9f3c5ce234dc5719ad11c9eac7b262a2e31051ad6e5eb4ebab357cf28e928d8ac398fe04cf3e8710de14d5b8a0eac79ee819f5edae054061eb1cefafeaf2fa87
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/187255/cdc_187255_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 171.15 KB ]