Barradas, A., Iskandar, I., Carder, M. et al. (4 more authors) (2024) Trends in occupational respiratory conditions with short latency in the UK. Occupational Medicine, 74 (6). pp. 430-437. ISSN 0962-7480
Abstract
Background
Occupational short-latency respiratory disease (SLRD; predominantly asthma, rhinitis, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and occupational infections) prevalence is difficult to determine but certain occupations may be associated with increased susceptibility.
Aims
This study aimed to examine which occupations and industries are currently at high risk for SLRD and determine their respective suspected causal agents.
Methods
SLRD cases reported to the SWORD scheme between 1999 and 2019 were analysed to determine directly standardized rate ratios (SRR) by occupation against the average rate for all other occupations combined.
Results
‘Bakers and flour confectioners’ and ‘vehicle spray painters’ showed significantly raised SRR for SLRD in general, mostly due to occupational rhinitis (234.4; 95% CI 200.5–274.0) and asthma (63.5; 95% CI 51.5–78.3), respectively. Laboratory technicians also showed significantly raised SRR for occupational rhinitis (18.7; 95% CI 15.1–23.1), primarily caused by laboratory animals and insects. Metal machining setters and setter-operators showed increased SRR for occupational hypersensitivity pneumonitis (42.0; 95% CI 29.3–60.3), largely due to cutting/soluble oils. The occupation mostly affected by infectious disease was welding trades (12.9; 95% CI 5.7–29.3), mainly attributable to microbial pathogenicity.
Conclusions
This study identified the occupational groups at increased risk of developing an SLRD based on data recorded over a recent two-decade period in the UK. Occupational asthma and rhinitis were identified as the prevailing conditions and hypersensitivity pneumonitis as a potentially rising respiratory problem in the metalworking industry.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com. |
Keywords: | Humans; United Kingdom; Occupational Diseases; Occupational Exposure; Rhinitis; Prevalence; Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Asthma; Male; Occupations |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Medicine and Population Health |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 13 Nov 2024 13:02 |
Last Modified: | 13 Nov 2024 13:02 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press (OUP) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/occmed/kqae057 |
Related URLs: | |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:219552 |