Medical Clearance for Respirator Use: Sensitivity and Specificity of a Questionnaire

Details

• Personal Author:
  Barnhart S ; Beaudet, Nancy ; Calcagni J ; Pappas GP ; Salazar M ; Shoop D ; Stover B ; Takaro TK
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: OSHA regulations require that workers receive medical clearance prior to respirator use, and recently, a detailed questionnaire has been provided to assist with this purpose. However, there are limited published data on the sensitivity and specificity of self-administered questionnaires for identifying individuals who may safely wear a respirator. METHODS: We tested 474 consecutive workers at a Department of Energy complex. After completing the self-administered questionnaire, all workers received a standardized physician evaluation including interview, physical examination, and spirometry. The outcomes of the questionnaire assessment were compared to the outcomes of physician evaluation. RESULTS: Data for analysis were available from 413 of workers (87%). All workers received medical clearance; only 10 workers (2.4%) received work restrictions. The questionnaire demonstrated 100% sensitivity in identifying workers who required work restrictions, but had specificity of only 19%. Compared to physician evaluation, the questionnaire had modest sensitivity to the detection of chronic medical conditions. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the rates of medical clearance for respirator use are very high, and that a self-administered questionnaire may be appropriate for medical clearance in certain settings. It is recommended that the policy of routine physician evaluation and spirometry for respirator clearance be re-examined. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Respiratory System Safety Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  Medical-examinations Medical-screening Physical-examination Physical-reactions Physiological-response Questionnaires Respiratory-equipment Respiratory-protection
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  395-400
• Volume:
  35
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20031384
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 1999 Apr; 35(4):395-400
• Contact Point Address:
  Timothy K. Takaro, University of Washington, Occupational & Environmental Medicine Program, 4225 Roosevelt Way NE Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98105
• Email:
  ttakaro@u.washington.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1999
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19950930
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  19990929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:32ab401793838e2646d9cb7a3574cc6ecdce1c18291c11ef7acb5c5693ddd8ff15f391062c9eeb1b5b35bd8497282305d7bb02e9916add4cd2aa02ecc06022f3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/191641/cdc_191641_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 165.13 KB ]