Physician Reports of Work-Related Asthma in California, 1993–1996

Details

• Personal Author:
  Athanasoulis M ; Balmes J ; Blanc, Paul ; Cone, James E. ; Cussler S ; Harrison RJ ; Reinisch F
• Description:
  Background: Work-related asthma is a leading cause of occupational respiratory illness. Methods: Work-related asthma was studied in California over a 36-month period, from March 1, 1993 to February 29, 1996. The surveillance system identified cases from Doctor's First Reports (DFRs), a mandated physician reporting system. Structured follow-up telephone interviews of DFR asthma cases were conducted to collect work history, exposure, and medical information. Statewide employment data was used to calculate disease rates among industry groups. Results: Based on 945 cases of work-related asthma, the average annual reporting rate for work-related asthma in California was 25/million workers. We estimate that the actual rate is 78/million, adjusted for likely underreporting. Janitors and cleaners (625/million) and firefighters (300/million) had the highest reporting rates of work-related asthma. Half of all work-related asthma cases were associated with agents not known to be allergens. Conclusions: A greater proportion of work-related asthma associated with irritant exposures was identified than has previously been reported. The surveillance data provide a very conservative estimate of the incidence of work-related asthma. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Asthma Asthma, Occupational Demography Epidemiology Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety
• Keywords:
  Bronchial-asthma Demographic-characteristics Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-system-disorders Statistical-analysis Surveillance-programs
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 9 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  72-83
• Volume:
  39
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20030135
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2001 Jan; 39(1):72-83
• Contact Point Address:
  Florence Reinisch, California Department of Health Services, Occupational Health Branch, 1515 Clay Street, Suite 1901, Oakland, CA 94612
• Email:
  freinisc@dhs.ca.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2001
• Performing Organization:
  California Department of Health Services-Occupational Health Branch
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19930930
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  19990331
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d72bc163a8df6bb67cbe371fff9f68d9f0324754b64608b46a5d317979c7fe0b1668e8e457846a84954a3992dd5f8bd8ebf2e83abe2febc4186e0afef55711d9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/190952/cdc_190952_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 203.88 KB ]