Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health
Abstract
Assuming that airborne particles and pollutants are important contributing factors in the development of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB), we performed a case-control study including 63 tea workers (36 men and 27 women, aged 36-55, duration of employment 3-30 years) and an equal number of office workers, matched by sex and age. Exercise-induced respiratory symptoms were recorded in a questionnaire. Skin prick tests, spirometry, as well as exercise and histamine challenge were carried out. Environmental measurements were performed on site during the work shifts. The prevalence of self-reported exercise-induced respiratory symptoms and EIB did not differ significantly between the exposed and control group (41.6 % vs 36.8 %, and 6.4 % vs 4.8 %, respectively). In both exposed and control workers, EIB was strongly linked to asthma (P<0.01). In the exposed workers it was significantly associated with positive family history of asthma (P<0.01) and positive family history of atopies (P<0.05), whereas in the exposed smokers it was significantly related to smoking duration (P<0.05). Bronchial reaction to exercise in the exposed smokers was significantly greater than in control smokers (P<0.05). Self-reported exercise-induced respiratory symptoms were weakly associated with EIB, with a large proportion of false positive and a low proportion of false negative results in both groups.Polazeći od pretpostavke da čestice nošene zrakom i onečišćivači bitno pridonose razvoju bronhokonstrikcije uzrokovane tjelesnim opterećenjem, ispitano je 63 radnika u tvornici čaja (36 muškaraca i 27 žena u dobi od 36 do 55 godina sa stažem od 3 do 30 godina) i 63 kontrolna ispitanika, administrativna službenika koji su izloženoj skupini odgovarali po spolu i dobi. Podaci o respiratornim simptomima uzrokovanim opterećenjem prikupljeni su s pomoću upitnika. Također su napravljeni skin-prick test, spirometrija te test tjelesnim opterećenjem i bronhoprovokativni test histaminom. Mjerenja u zraku radnoga okoliša napravljena su za trajanja smjene. Izloženi radnici nisu se statistički značajno razlikovali od kontrolne skupine u prevalenciji prijavljenih respiratornih simptoma odnosno bronhokonstrikcije uzrokovane opterećenjem (41,6 % naspram 36,8 %, odnosno 6,4 % naspram 4,8 %). U obje je skupine bronhokonstrikcija uzrokovana opterećenjem bila izrazito povezana s astmom (P<0,01). U izloženoj skupini, bronhokonstrikcija uzrokovana opterećenjem bila je statistički značajno povezana s pozitivnom obiteljskom anamnezom astme (P<0,01) i atopije (P<0,05). U izloženih pušača ona je značajno bila povezana s trajanjem pušenja (P<0,05). Bronhalne reakcije na opterećenje u izloženih pušača bile su značajno jače od onih u kontrolnih pušača (P<0,05). Zamijećena je slaba povezanost između prijavljenih respiratornih simptoma i bronhokonstrikcije uzrokovane opterećenjem, s velikim udjelom lažno pozitivnih i malim udjelom lažno negativnih nalaza u obje skupine
