Assessing Work-Related Respiratory Problems Among Massachusetts Elementary School Staff: Results of a Pilot Survey

Details

• Personal Author:
  Baldwin M ; Davis, Letitia ; Hunt PR ; Pechter E
• Description:
  In Massachusetts, sentinel cases of work-related asthma among school personnel have been identified and the presence of respiratory hazards in schools has been documented. However, there has not been a standard survey or reporting tool used to assess the prevalence of work-related asthma among school employees in the Commonwealth. To learn the best way to survey school employees regarding their respiratory health and inform future research, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the Healthy Schools Network, developed and piloted a short questionnaire to gather information on the prevalence of asthma and respiratory symptoms in school personnel. This pilot project demonstrated that anonymous, self-reported information on asthma and respiratory symptoms in school staff and observed environmental conditions in schools can be collected using a brief self-administered questionnaire. Self-administered surveys were completed by 359 staff in a convenience sample of 13 public elementary schools (response rate 44%). Survey findings corroborated the occurrence of respiratory problems among school staff. The design of the pilot project precluded generalizing findings to estimate the prevalence of respiratory problems among all elementary school personnel in Massachusetts. The proportion of staff reporting current asthma (10%) was no different than the proportion of all adults (9.7%) and somewhat less than the proportion of all females (12.2%) reporting current asthma in the Massachusetts Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). However, the proportion of school staff reporting that their asthma was related to work (25%) was greater than expected from the 2001-2002 Massachusetts BRFSS (8.8% all; 9.0% females). An additional 21% of respondents reported respiratory symptoms associated with work. In response to an open-ended question, staff expressed concern about poor indoor air quality, mold and dust. The findings of this pilot project, while limited, taken together with sentinel surveillance data on work-related asthma and other published reports, suggest that further research on respiratory health among school personnel and its association with environmental conditions in schools is both feasible and warranted. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Asthma Asthma, Occupational Education Epidemiology Lung Diseases Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Surveys And Questionnaires

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• Keywords:
  Bronchial-asthma Lung-disease Lung-disorders Pulmonary-system-disorders Questionnaires Respiratory-system-disorders Risk-analysis Risk-factors Statistical-analysis Surveillance-programs Teaching

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• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Publisher:
  Massachusetts Department of Public Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-23
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20032682
• Citation:
  Boston, MA: Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 2007 Aug; :1-23
• Contact Point Address:
  Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Health Information, Statistics, Research and Evaluation, Occupational Health Surveillance Program, 250 Washington Street, 6th Floor Boston, Massachusetts 02108
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Performing Organization:
  Massachusetts State Department of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20040930
• Source Full Name:
  Boston, MA: Massachusetts Department of Public Health
• End Date:
  20060929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:660d0a8e0681f6b644c055d93e283dc328f744cf745efe90c727a5150be9b63a9631a7d236f9303851b8383d15ab4bbafc08e898b788f53bc78be556496021ec
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228566/cdc_228566_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 150.85 KB ]