Abstract
Work-related asthma, which includes occupational asthma and work-aggravated asthma, has become one of the most prevalent occupational lung diseases. These guidelines aim to upgrade occupational health standards, contribute importantly to transnational legal harmonisation and reduce the high socio-economic burden caused by this disorder.
A systematic literature search related to five key questions was performed: diagnostics; risk factors; outcome of management options; medical screening and surveillance; controlling exposure for primary prevention. Each of the 1,329 retrieved papers was reviewed by two experts, followed by Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network grading, and formulation of statements graded according to the Royal College of General Practitioners’ three-star system.
Recommendations were made on the basis of the evidence-based statements, which comprise the following major evidence-based strategic points. 1) A comprehensive diagnostic approach considering the individual specific aspects is recommended. 2) Early recognition and diagnosis is necessary for timely and appropriate preventative measures. 3) A stratified medical screening strategy and surveillance programme should be applied to at-risk workers. 4) Whenever possible, removing exposure to the causative agent should be achieved, as it leads to the best health outcome. If this is not possible, reduction is the second best option, whereas respirators are of limited value. 5) Exposure elimination should be the preferred primary prevention approach.
Footnotes
For editorial comments see page 518.
The June 2012 issue of the European Respiratory Review will feature a series of supporting articles from the ERS Task Force on the Management of Work-related Asthma.
This article has supplementary material accessible from www.erj.ersjournals.com
Support Statement
The work of the Task Force on the Management of Work-related Asthma was funded by the European Respiratory Society. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Statement of Interest
Statements of interest for V. Schlünssen and P.S. Burge can be found at www.erj.ersjournals.com/site/misc/statements.xhtml
- Received June 6, 2011.
- Accepted November 28, 2011.
- ©ERS 2012