Work-related peak flow and asthma symptoms in a damp building

Details

• Personal Author:
  Benaise, Lisa G. ; Cox-Ganser, Jean M. ; Kreiss, Kathleen ; White, Sandra K.
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: Working in damp conditions is associated with asthma, but few studies have used objective testing to document work-related patterns.AimsTo describe the relationship of peak flow measurements to work-related asthma (WRA) symptoms and WRA among occupants in a damp office building. METHODS: At the beginning of the study, all workers were offered a questionnaire and methacholine challenge testing. Participants were then instructed to perform serial spirometry using handheld spirometers five times per day over a 3 week period. Peak flow data were analysed using OASYS-2 software. We calculated the area between the curves (ABC score) using hours from waking. We considered a score >5.6 L/min/h to be indicative of a work-related pattern. RESULTS: All 24 employees participated in the questionnaire. Seven participants (29%) reported physician-diagnosed asthma with onset after starting work in the building. Almost two-thirds (63%) of participants reported at least one lower respiratory symptom (LRS) occurring one or more times per week in the last 4 weeks. Twenty-two (92%) consented to participate in serial spirometry. Fourteen participants had adequate quality of serial spirometry, five of whom had ABC scores >5.6, ranging from 5.9-23.0. Of these five, two had airways responsiveness, three had current post-hire onset physician-diagnosed asthma and four reported work-related LRS. CONCLUSIONS: We found evidence of work-related changes in serial peak flows among some occupants of an office building with a history of dampness. Serial peak flows may be a useful measure to determine WRA in office settings. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Asthma Asthma, Occupational Diagnosis Environmental Health Environmental Pollution Methacholine Compounds Occupational Health Respiratory Function Tests Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Surveys And Questionnaires Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Airway-resistance Author Keywords: Asthma Bronchial-asthma Dampness Diagnostic-tests Environmental-contamination Health-surveys Indoor-environmental-quality Lower Respiratory Symptoms Medical-screening Methacholines OASYS Office-workers Questionnaires Respiratory-system-disorders Serial Spirometry Spirometry Work-environment Worker-health

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• ISSN:
  0962-7480
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; 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:
  287-290
• Volume:
  63
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20042528
• Citation:
  Occup Med 2013 Jun; 63(4):287-290
• Contact Point Address:
  S. K. White, Division of Respiratory Disease Studies, NIOSH, 1095 Willowdale Rd, MS-2800, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
• Email:
  sqg8@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:66514b7489454829d6af9a475a9459d2f173463798365563eb7c1c35daf1af2948894b52740c1d598e99f8fb868c5ac814a0d7605a3d5d34c64d952d10f45bba
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/194719/cdc_194719_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 722.92 KB ]