Stay home; save lives; aid the diagnosis of occupational asthma

Abstract

Introduction: Many UK workers have had paid, extended periods away from work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In those with suspected occupational asthma (OA) this has enabled assessment of serial peak expiratory flow (PEF) over long periods away from their workplace.

Methods: Those who had been followed up by telephone or face-to-face between March and December 2020, had completed serial PEF measurements while at work (pre-March 2020), and then during a long period away from work were included. Workers were asked to complete 4 weeks of readings taking them every 2 hours from waking to sleeping each day, whether in the workplace or not. Data was analysed using the OASYS software program.

Results: 10 patients completed serial PEF measurements during the time periods specified. 7 workers showed an improvement in their mean PEFs with prolonged time away from work. Table 1 shows the results.

Conclusion: Although the diagnosis of OA is usually based on analysis of serial PEFs performed during short, alternating episodes at and away from work, PEFs recorded during longer periods away from the workplace have provided evidence of OA in some patients with equivocal PEF results beforehand and confirmed OA in others.