Psychiatric Disorders and Work-Related Asthma

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Michigan State University. College of Human Medicine
• Description:
  The diagnosis of work-related asthma, particularly documenting changes in breathing test results in relationship to work, can be challenging. An article in the May 1, 2013 edition of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine highlights an additional complication, the presence of psychiatric disease and/or hypochondriasis in patients with suspected work-related asthma. The investigators used Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD) to classify individuals for mood and anxiety disorders and the Whitney Index to assess levels of hypochondriasis. These questionnaires were administered to 195 patients who were being evaluated with specific antigen challenge testing for work-related asthma in Quebec. Thirty four percent of the patients met the criteria for mood, anxiety and/or hypochondriasis. This prevalence was greater than the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the general population but it was not greater than the prevalence among individuals with non work-related asthma. Individuals who ended up without a diagnosis of confirmed work-related asthma had a higher prevalence of mood disorder, anxiety disorder and hypochondriasis although only the prevalence of hypochondriasis was significantly greater (Table 1). The authors concluded that psychiatric conditions should be added to the differential of conditions, such as vocal cord dysfunction and rhinitis, to be considered when evaluating patients with work-related asthma. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Asthma, Occupational Diagnosis Epidemiology Lung Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety
• Keywords:
  Diagnostic Techniques Lung Disease Occupational Asthma Occupational Exposure Psychological Disorders
• Publisher:
  Michigan State University-College of Human Medicine
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Newsletter
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-4
• Volume:
  24
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20054606
• Citation:
  Project S.E.N.S.O.R. News 2013 Jun; 24(3):1-4
• Contact Point Address:
  MSU-CHM, 117 West Fee Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824-1316
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  Michigan State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Project S.E.N.S.O.R. News
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5440616960c927e11369a6d6ad60711a9491a02ccfb67991290b73612e5eebeebbfd9b9a8558766879a352e8895639c406aeee9ced62239b04c2f3149e7124a0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/217104/cdc_217104_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 91.34 KB ]