Source: International Congress 2014 – Occupational asthma: from childhood to adulthood
Disease area: Airway diseases

Abstract

Nurses are at risk of occupational asthma, an observation that may be related to exposure to disinfectants. Whether asthma history influences job type or job changes among nurses is unknown. We investigated this issue in a sample of 114,778 women in the Nurses' Health Study II, a prospective study of U.S. female nurses enrolled in 1989 (ages 24-44 years). Data on job status were collected at baseline and in follow-up questionnaires (1993-2011). Asthma history before baseline was assessed during follow-up and in an asthma-specific questionnaire in 1998. Associations between asthma history at baseline (diagnosis before 1989) and job type at baseline, and job changes over 1989-2011, were evaluated by multinomial logistic regression and Cox models, adjusted for age, race and ethnicity. At baseline, 44% of the women held nursing jobs likely to involve high disinfectants exposure (nursing in operating room [OR], emergency room [ER] or inpatient unit), while 12% held jobs with likely low exposure (nursing education/administration). Asthma history at baseline was reported by 5,739 women (5%). Compared to education/administration nurses, women with asthma history were less often employed in OR (odds ratio: 0.71 [95%CI, 0.61-0.82]) and in ER or inpatient units (0.88 [0.81-0.96]). During follow-up, nurses with asthma history were more likely to move to jobs with low exposure to disinfectants (hazard ratio: 1.14 [1.09-1.20]). Asthma history is associated with both baseline job type and subsequent job changes among nurses. This may partly reflect avoidance of tasks involving disinfectant use, and may introduce bias in cross-sectional studies on disinfectant use and asthma in nurses.Grants: R01 OH-10359; FRM SPE20130326585; FRSR.

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O. Dumas, R. Varraso, J. P. Zock, P. K. Henneberger, F. E. Speizer, A. S. Wiley, N. Le Moual, C. A. Camargo Jr (Boston, Morgantown, United States Of America; Villejuif, France; Utrecht, Netherlands). Asthma history, job type, and job changes among U.S. nurses. Eur Respir J 2014; 44: Suppl. 58, 410

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