Are operating room nurses at higher risk of severe persistent asthma? The Nurses' Health Study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Camargo CA Jr. ; Henneberger, Paul K. ; Kauffmann F ; Le Moual N ; Speizer FE ; Varraso R ; Zock JP
• Description:
  Objective: To assess the associations between operating room (OR) nursing, a category of health care workers at high risk of exposure to various inhaled agents, and asthma severity/control among women with asthma. Methods: The level of severity/control in nurses with prevalent doctor-diagnosed asthma in 1998/2000 was compared, using nominal logistic regression, in OR nursing (n = 69) and administrative nursing (n = 546) from the US Nurses' Health Study for whom detailed information on asthma and nursing employment status was available. Results: We observed a significant association between OR nursing, compared with administrative nursing, and severe persistent asthma (adjusted odds ratio, 2.48; 95% confidence interval, 1.06 to 5.77). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that nurses working in the OR are at a higher risk of severe persistent asthma. Further studies with detailed estimates of occupational exposures, especially to disinfectant/cleaning agents, are warranted. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Anesthesia Communicable Diseases Disinfectants Health Personnel Inhalation Exposure Irritants Occupational Health Operating Rooms Radiation Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety

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• Keywords:
  Anesthetics Cleaning-compounds Exposure-levels Gases Infectious-diseases Inhalants Nurses Operating-rooms Radiation-exposure Radiation-levels Respiration Respiratory-infections Respiratory-irritants Respiratory-system-disorders Risk-factors

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• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1 ; 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
• Volume:
  55
• Issue:
  8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20043064
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Med 2013 Aug; 55(8):973-977
• Contact Point Address:
  Nicole Le Moual, PhD, Respiratory and Environmental Epidemiology Team, Inserm, Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health, U1018, 16, avenue Paul Vaillant Couturier, 94807 Villejuif Cedex, France
• Email:
  nicole.lemoual@inserm.fr
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e195023dffa34652f0b28dc9df5f5f85a973b1ee416678b3308ad319059c6e061ad23067d1fb2a219ad751c54d9a41119d2d3e8d0fc13f36e1683215dd6c5dab
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/195082/cdc_195082_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 122.73 KB ]