Occupational Exposures and Chronic Respiratory Symptoms: A Population-Based Study

Abstract

Data from a random sample of 8,515 white adults residing in 6 cities in the eastern and midwestern United States were used to examine the relationships between occupational exposures to dust of to gases and fumes and chronic respiratory symptoms; 31% of the population had a history of occupational dust exposure and 30% reported exposure to gas or fumes. After adjusting for smoking habits, age, gender, and city of residence, subjects with either occupational exposure had significantly elevated prevalences of chronic cough, chronic phlegm, persistent wheeze, and breathlessness. The adjusted relative odds of chronic respiratory symptoms for subjects exposed to dust ranged from 1.32 to 1.60. Subjects with gas or fume exposure had relative odds of symptoms between 1.27 and 1.43 when compared with unexposed subjects. Occupational dust exposure was associated with a higher prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease aa defined by an FEV1/FVC ratio of less than 0.6, when comparing exposed and unexposed pa...