The Validation of Work-Related Self-Reported Asthma Exacerbation

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bolen AR ; Derk SJ ; Henneberger, Paul K. ; Liang X ; Milton DK ; Preusse PA ; Rosiello R ; Sama SR
• Description:
  Work-related patterns of asthma are frequently assessed via self-reported information. The objective of this study was to compare work-related self-reported asthma exacerbation against serial peak expiratory flow (PEF) findings. Adults with asthma were asked to conduct serial spirometry testing at home and at work 5 times a day for 3 weeks. Participants also completed a daily log of respiratory symptoms and medication use concurrent with serial testing. Work-related self-reported asthma exacerbation was defined as more symptoms or greater medication use on work vs. non-work days. A 3-member panel evaluated the serial PEF measurements for a work relationship. These judgments were used as a standard to determine the sensitivity and specificity of work-related self-reported asthma exacerbation. 89 working adults with asthma provided adequate data, and 13 (15%) were determined to have PEF evidence of work-exacerbated asthma. Work-related self-reports of exacerbation based on symptoms (48%) were more common than those based on medication use (36%). Self-reported concurrent medication use had a better combination of sensitivity (62%) and specificity (68%) than self-reported concurrent symptoms. These findings suggest that self-reports alone fail to identify many adults with asthma who have objective evidence of work-related exacerbation and erroneously identify many without objective evidence. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Asthma Asthma, Occupational Occupational Diseases Occupational Health Respiratory Function Tests Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety
• Keywords:
  Bronchial-asthma Diseases Occupational-diseases Occupational-health Respiratory-system-disorders Spirometry Surveillance Worker-health Workers
• ISSN:
  1546-3222
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary ; Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1 ; 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
• Volume:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20031247
• Citation:
  Proc Am Thorac Soc 2006 Apr; 3(Abstracts):A653
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c529c7218096cb503eef213d3582c8c84dcb2bca85fe325456a8ff889e132283c1905f130fdda9c6dab66b10f9cd6c12aa3b4d6d02f16f39379fa174779f7b76
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/191551/cdc_191551_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 87.62 KB ]