A study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that about 16% of the adults in the United States who have asthma either developed the condition on the job of have asthma symptoms that are made worse by conditions where they work. This adds up to 1.9 million cases of work-related asthma in the states covered by the CDC report.
About one in nine Americans overall has asthma, the CDC said in a report. The incidence of work-related asthma varied from state to state, ranging from 9% to 23.1%. Missouri had a 23% incidence of work-related asthma among people with asthma, while Hawaii had 9%.
The highest incidence by age was seen in adults aged 45 to 64 years old.
The CDC looked at data from 22 states that was collected through the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Adult Asthma Call-Back Survey (ACBS). People were asked if they had asthma and if they had been told by their doctor that their asthma was caused by or made worse by their jobs.
Work-related asthma can be caused or worsened by allergens, dust, smoke, fragrances, or chemicals that are in the workplace. There are two major forms of work-related asthma. Asthma that is caused by work conditions is called occupational asthma. Existing asthma that is made worse or triggered by conditions at work is work-exacerbated asthma.
"Work-related asthma is associated with increased disability, mortality, and adverse social and economic outcomes," said Dr. Jacek Mazurek, an epidemiologist and the lead author of the CDC report. People who have asthma attacks due to their job can experience a poor quality of life and the loss of income and employment, he told Healthday.com.
A diagnosis of work-related asthma can offer unique opportunities for prevention for the patient and among workers with similar occupational exposures, the report stated. Because of this, health-care providers should ask workers who have asthma about occupational exposures and should be alert to possible associations between workplace exposures and asthma symptoms.
The report was published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and can be read online at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6413a2.htm.
