Occupational risk factors for asthma among nurses and related healthcare professionals in an international study

Objective: The authors examined the relations between self-reported
work tasks, use of cleaning products and latex glove use with
new-onset asthma among nurses and other healthcare workers in the
European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS II).Methods: In
a random population sample of adults from 22 European sites, 332
participants reported working in nursing and other related
healthcare jobs during the nine-year ECRHS II follow-up period and
responded to a supplemental questionnaire about their principal
work settings, occupational tasks, products used at work and
respiratory symptoms. Poisson regression models with robust error
variances were used to compare the risk of new-onset asthma among
healthcare workers with each exposure to that of respondents who
reported professional or administrative occupations during the
entire follow-up period (n = 2481).Results: Twenty (6%) healthcare
workers and 131 (5%) members of the referent population reported
new-onset asthma. Compared to the referent group, the authors
observed increased risks among hospital technicians (RR 4.63; 95%
CI 1.87 to 11.5) and among those using ammonia and/or bleach at
work (RR 2.16; 95% CI 1.03 to 4.53).Conclusions: In the ECRHS II
cohort, hospital technicians and other healthcare workers
experience increased risks of new-onset current asthma, possibly
due to specific products used at work.