Healthcare for Obstructive Lung Disease in an Industrial Spirometry Surveillance Program

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cullen MR ; Fiellin MG ; Gulati M ; Slade MD
• Description:
  OBJECTIVE: The efficacy of workplace spirometry surveillance programs is unclear. We examine whether aluminum industry workers with airflow obstruction (AO) received health care for obstructive lung disease. METHODS: We performed a cross sectional analysis over 7 years of 6821 aluminum production workers. The primary outcome was the association between obstructive lung disease insurance claims and the presence of AO. We also examined whether the presence of claims was associated with increasing AO severity. RESULTS: Although workers with AO more frequently had claims, 60% of workers with AO, most frequently those with mild and borderline obstruction, had no claim. CONCLUSIONS: Workers with AO, particularly borderline and mild obstruction, frequently do not receive health care despite respiratory surveillance. Further investigation is needed to determine if workers with undiagnosed AO are symptomatic or have accelerated losses in lung function over time. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Personnel Health Promotion Hypersensitivity Irritants Lung Lung Diseases Metals Metal Workers Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory Function Tests Respiratory Hypersensitivity Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Health-care-personnel Health-programs Health-services Inhalation-studies Lung-disorders Lung-irritants Metal-industry-workers Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards Occupational-health Occupational-health-services Occupational-respiratory-disease Pulmonary-disorders Pulmonary-system Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-hypersensitivity Respiratory-irritants Respiratory-system-disorders Sensitization Spirometry Work-environment Work-practices Worker-health Workplace-studies

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• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  336-342
• Volume:
  51
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20035642
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Med 2009 Mar; 51(3):336-342
• Contact Point Address:
  Mridu Gulati, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
• Email:
  mridu.gulati@yale.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Performing Organization:
  Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20060901
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20100831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b94fae219910d2f6d72694b0e78d0df8600f9bccde94db990c016f14df54150aa87240c561e22dc015fbd9e09c21cb79fbd51e3b8206d93c6dc3cf3b0cd7c500
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/187436/cdc_187436_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 213.94 KB ]