You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Oral Session 40 – Respiratory 2
O40-1 Risk of hypersensitivity pneumonitis and other interstitial lung diseases among pigeon breeders
  1. Christine Cramer1,
  2. Vivi Schlünssen2,3,
  3. Elisabeth Bendstrup4,
  4. Zara Ann Stokholm1,
  5. Jesper Medom Vestergaard1,
  6. Morten Frydenberg5,
  7. Henrik Albert Kolstad1
  1. 1Department of Occupational Medicine, Danish Ramazzini Centre, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
  2. 2Department of Public Health, Danish Ramazzini Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
  3. 3National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark
  4. 4Department of Respiratory Diseases and Allergy, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
  5. 5Section for Biostatistics, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the risk of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) and other interstitial lung diseases (ILD) among pigeon breeders.

This is a retrospective follow-up study from 1980 to 2013 of 6920 pigeon breeders identified in the records of the Danish Racing Pigeon Association. They were compared with 276,800 individually matched referents randomly drawn from the Danish population. Hospital based diagnoses of HP and other ILD were identified in the National Patient Registry 1977–2013.

Stratified Cox regression analyses estimated the hazard ratios (HR) of HP and other ILD adjusted for occupation, residence, and redeemed prescription of medication with ILD as a possible side-effect. Subjects were censored at death, emigration, or a diagnosis of connective tissue disease.

The overall incidence rate of ILD was 77.4 per 100,000 person years among the pigeon breeders and 50.0 per 100,000 person years among the referents. This difference corresponded to an adjusted HR of 1.56 (95% CI: 1.26–1.94). The adjusted HR of HP and other ILD for pigeon breeders were 14.36 (95% CI: 8.10–25.44) and 1.33 (95% CI: 1.05–1.69).

Higher risk estimates for overall ILD and HP were observed among the subset of pigeon breeders who were followed since first enrolment into the pigeon association and thus with a complete pigeon breeder history.

To conclude, this study shows an increased risk of ILD among pigeon breeders compared with the referent population. Protective measures are recommended even though ILD leading to hospital contact remains rare among pigeon breeders.

https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2016-103951.206

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.