Prevalence of asthma by industry and occupation in the U.S. working population

Abstract

Background: Workers are potentially exposed to asthmagens daily. Our study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of asthma among working adults in the U.S. by industry and occupation.

Methods: Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2001-2004), multiple logistic regression was used to investigate associations between industry and occupation and current asthma as defined by positive responses to "Has a doctor or other health professional ever told you that you have asthma?" and "Do you still have asthma?"

Results: Workers in mining (17.0%), health-related industries (12.5%), teaching (13.1%), or in health-related occupations (12.6%) had the highest prevalence of asthma. As compared to construction industry workers, workers in mining (aOR = 5.2, 95% CI: 1.1-24.2) or health-related (aOR = 2.3, 95% CI: 1.1-4.8) industries had significantly higher odds of asthma.

Conclusion: Our study adds to the increasing evidence that miners, healthcare workers and teachers remain high-risk working populations and appropriate evaluation and control measures are needed to protect these workers.