Characteristics | Advantages |
Related to the subjects | No previous effect of exposure to the causal agent |
| Minimal effect of smoking |
| Possibility of having a well-balanced sample of atopic and nonatopic individuals, as well as a sufficient number of subjects with enhanced bronchial responsiveness representative of the fraction of the general population entering their professional life |
Related to the design | Entirely prospective: characterisation of the natural history of immunological sensitisation and disease |
| Best characterisation of important co-morbidity factors on entry into the cohort: atopy, level of bronchial responsiveness, rhinoconjunctivitis |
| Repeated assessment possible |
| Serial identification of level exposure |
| Possibility of follow-up at the time subjects enter a workplace and serially thereafter, including after removal from exposure in cases where subjects develop disease |