Chest
Clinical InvestigationsThe Use of Portable Peak Flowmeters in the Surveillance of Occupational Asthma
Section snippets
METHODS AND MATERIALS
The suspected cases of occupational asthma were reported voluntarily by physicians between May 1, 1988, and December 31, 1989. (Starting in May 1990, physicians in New Jersey were required by state law to report cases of occupational lung disease to the state department of health.) During the study period, the New Jersey SENSOR surveillance staff included a project manager (M.J.S.), research assistant (L.S.T.), industrial hygienist, consulting physician (H.M.K.), and epidemiologist (P.K.H.).
RESULTS
Of the 70 suspected cases of occupational asthma that were reported during the study period, ten were reported anonymously by their physicians, and another three subjects were contacted but refused to be interviewed (Fig 1). All of the remaining 57 subjects were interviewed by SENSOR staff. Only one of the 57 had been examined by his private physician with pulmonary function testing in relation to work. None of the other subjects had any further documentation of the asthma-work association
Participation and Acceptance by Subjects
The reported cases of occupational asthma in subjects who were not successfully tested with the portable peak flowmeters fell into three categories. First, some cases were reported anonymously or the subjects refused to be interviewed. The New Jersey SENSOR surveillance project maintains strict confidentiality and will neither contact the employer nor reveal the identity of the subject without the individual's authorization. Despite these safeguards, the fear of reprisals by management may have
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by funding to the New Jersey Department of Health from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Award Number U60-CCU-2-02994). The authors wish to thank Michael R. Lax, M.D., M.P.H., for his assistance with reviewing the manuscript.
REFERENCES (15)
- et al.
Can patients keep their own peak-flow records reliably?
Lancet
(1979) - et al.
Sensitivity and specificity of PC20 and peak expiratory flow rate in cedar asthma
J Allergy Clin Immunol
(1990) Sentinel event notification system for occupational risks
Scand J Environ Health
(1988)Occupational disease surveillance: occupational asthma
MMWR
(1990)- et al.
Physiological patterns in early morning asthma
Thorax
(1977) - et al.
Comparison of peak expiratory flow and FEV1 admission criteria for acute bronchial asthma
Ann Emerg Med
(1982) - et al.
A procedure for using peak expiratory flow rate data to increase the predictability of asthma episodes
J Asthma Res
(1978)
Cited by (29)
Diagnosis and management of work-related asthma: American College of Chest Physicians consensus statement
2008, ChestCitation Excerpt :The submission of appropriate reports to public health surveillance and regulatory systems can link clinical and public health approaches. Several voluntary reporting programs have been established in the United States (Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks [or SENSOR]21,105), the United Kingdom (Surveillance of Work-Related & Occupational Respiratory Disease [or SWORD]281,282), and South Africa (Surveillance of Work-related and Occupational Respiratory Diseases in South Africa [or SORDSA]283). Reports of suspected WRA may then encourage exposure control interventions.
Occupational asthma in the cotton textile industry: Assessment by bronchial hyperreactivity and peak expiratory flow recording
2002, Revista Portuguesa de PneumologiaOccupational asthma in 1997
1997, Revue Francaise d'Allergologie et d'Immunologie CliniqueThe case for confirming occupational asthma: Why, how much, how far?
1993, The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Manuscript received November 30; revision accepted April 4.