Asthma and Allergies

Prevention of Occupational Asthma: Introduction

This Web site is designed as a resource for individuals interested in the prevention of occupational asthma (OA). This introductory page will guide you through the information that can be found on the site.

Background

Prevention is not a single entity, and it is often divided into three categories: primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention.

“Primary prevention is [the] protection of health by personal and communal efforts, such as enhancing nutritional status, immunizing against communicable diseases, and eliminating environmental risks, such as contaminated water supplies.” (1)
Stage: susceptibility (2)

“Secondary prevention is [the] set of measures available to individuals and communities for the early detection and prompt intervention to control disease and minimize disability, e.g., by the use of screening programs.” (1)
Stage: early disease, i.e. pre-clinical and clinical stages (2)

“Tertiary prevention consists of measures aimed at softening the impact of long-term disease and disability by eliminating or reducing impairment, disability and handicap; minimizing suffering; and maximizing potential years or useful life” (1)
Stage: advanced disease or disability (2)

¹A Dictionary of Epidemiology. 4 ed. Oxford University Press, 2001.
²Mausner JS, Bahn AK. Epidemiology: An Introductory Text. Philadephia: W. B. Saunders Company, 1974.

Who will benefit from this Web site?

This site can be used by a variety of individuals. It is designed to provide a background to the work being conducted in the field of OA prevention. It will give occupational health researchers the ability to quickly identify gaps in current knowledge, to judge which interventions appear most effective and which should be examined for their use in additional studies, and to find basic information on study designs used in research on the prevention of OA. Additionally, policymakers will be able to quickly prioritize prevention research goals.

What can I find on this Web site?

This site consists of two sections: a text primer on the prevention of OA and a set of query tables with details about the studies described in the primer.

The primer contains information distilled from 94 articles by 70 first authors, detailing 96 primary or secondary OA prevention activities, published from 1977- October 2003. It describes the current state of OA prevention work, and highlights gaps in research that need to be filled.

Since the first literature search in 2003, new articles are sought several times each year. By April 2008, there were 112 articles by 83 first authors, detailing 114 primary or secondary OA prevention activities.

The query tables allow a user to view the studies through several different filters. Users interested in intervention research can view the studies categorized by the level of prevention, either primary or secondary, or by the type of intervention activity used in the study. Users interested in a particular type of agent can view the studies by molecular weight ( high, low, both), by the category of the agent, or by the specific type of agent.

See below for details on the studies available in the query tables.

Intervention Activity

High-Molecular-Weight Agents

Low-Molecular-Weight Agents

Both Molecular Weights

Review Articles and Editorial

The references in this section are editorials and review articles that provide summaries of findings from existing studies. They are included as another source of information about the prevention of work-related asthma.

Folletti I, Forcina A, Marabini A, Bussetti A, Siracusa A. Have the prevalence and incidence of occupational asthma and rhinitis because of laboratory animals declined in the last 25 years? Allergy. 2008 Jul; 63(7):834-41.

Gore JC, Schal C. Cockroach Allergen Biology and Mitigation in the Indoor Environment. Annu Rev Entomol. 2007; 52:439-63.

Heederik D, Van Rooy F. Exposure assessment should be integrated in studies on the prevention and management of occupational asthma. Occup Environ Med. 2008 Mar; 65(3):149-50.

Lee SM, Koh D. Lessons from an isocyanate tragedy. Singapore Med J. 2008 May; 49(5):372-5. Review. PMID: 18465044.

Maestrelli P, Saetta M. Recovery from adult-onset asthma and airway remodeling. Clin Exp Allergy. 2007 Dec;37(12):1733-5.

Malo JL, Chan-Yeung M. Asthma in the workplace: a Canadian contribution and perspective. Can Respir J. 2007 Oct; 14(7):407-13.

Quint J, Beckett WS, Campleman SL, Sutton P, Prudhomme J, Flattery J, Harrison R, Cowan B, Kreutzer R. Primary prevention of occupational asthma: identifying and controlling exposures to asthma-causing agents. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 2008; 51:477–491.

Tarlo SM, Balmes J, Balkissoon R, Beach J, Beckett W, Bernstein D, Blanc PD, Brooks SM, Cowl CT, Daroowalla F, Harber P, Lemiere C, Liss GM, Pacheco KA, Redlich CA, Rowe B, Heitzer J. Diagnosis and Management of Work-Related Asthma: American College of Chest Physicians Consensus Statement. Chest Sep 2008: 1S–41S. DOI 10.1378/chest.08-020.

Tarlo SM. Prevention of Occupational Asthma in Ontario. Can J Physiol Pharmacol. 2007 Jan; 85(1):167-72.