COMMENTARY

Asthma

Cost effectiveness of surveillance for isocyanate asthma: finding an occupational health policy framework

A D LaMontagne

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Associate Professor A D LaMontagne
Centre for Health and Society, School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia; alamonta@unimelb.edu.au

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Commentary on the paper by Wild et al (see page 743)

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Keywords: cost effectiveness; isocyanates; occupational asthma; policy

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Wild et al present an original cost effectiveness analysis for medical surveillance for isocyanate asthma in this issue of OEM.¹ The general case for surveillance for isocyanate asthma is a compelling one. Most occupational physicians, practitioners, and researchers might rightly expect that if a cost effectiveness (CE) case cannot be made for this agent, it would be hard to make a case for most others. The causal link between isocyanate exposure and asthma is well established, and more is known about the pathophysiology, natural history, long term consequences, and benefits of medical surveillance in this instance than for most other occupational exposures.

A mathematical simulation model was developed based on a carefully specified set of clinical parameters, drawing from empirical studies where possible (for example, in estimating sensitisation rates ranging from 0.7% to 5.3% per year), and well qualified expert opinion otherwise (for example, in estimating the chance . . . [Full text of this article]

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Relevant Article

Surveillance for isocyanate asthma: a model based cost effectiveness analysis

D M Wild, C A Redlich, A D Paltiel
Occup. Environ. Med. 2005 62: 743-749. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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