Title |
The estimated prevalence of exposure to asthmagens in the Australian workforce, 2014
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Published in |
BMC Pulmonary Medicine, April 2016
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DOI | 10.1186/s12890-016-0212-6 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Lin Fritschi, Julie Crewe, Ellie Darcey, Alison Reid, Deborah C. Glass, Geza P. Benke, Tim Driscoll, Susan Peters, Si Si, Michael J. Abramson, Renee N. Carey |
Abstract |
There is very little information available on a national level as to the number of people exposed to specific asthmagens in workplaces. We conducted a national telephone survey in Australia to investigate the prevalence of current occupational exposure to 277 asthmagens, assembled into 27 groups. Demographic and current job information were obtained. A web-based tool, OccIDEAS, was used to collect job task information and assign exposure to each asthmagen group. In the Australian Workplace Exposure Study - Asthma (AWES- Asthma) we interviewed 4878 participants (2441 male and 2437 female). Exposure to at least one asthmagen was more common among men (47 %) than women (40 %). Extrapolated to the Australian population, approximately 2.8 million men and 1.7 million women were estimated to be exposed. Among men, the most common exposures were bioaerosols (29 %) and metals (27 %), whilst the most common exposures among women were latex (25 %) and industrial cleaning and sterilising agents (20 %). This study provides information about the prevalence of exposure to asthmagens in Australian workplaces which will be useful in setting priorities for control and prevention of occupational asthma. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Ireland | 1 | 50% |
Australia | 1 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 1 | 50% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 50% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 32 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Researcher | 6 | 19% |
Student > Postgraduate | 5 | 16% |
Student > Master | 4 | 13% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 3 | 9% |
Student > Bachelor | 2 | 6% |
Other | 4 | 13% |
Unknown | 8 | 25% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Medicine and Dentistry | 10 | 31% |
Environmental Science | 5 | 16% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 2 | 6% |
Business, Management and Accounting | 2 | 6% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 2 | 6% |
Other | 1 | 3% |
Unknown | 10 | 31% |