PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Jouni J.K. Jaakkola
AU  - Taina K. Lajunen
AU  - Rachel Nadif
AU  - Maritta S. Jaakkola
TI  - The occurrence of respiratory infections in relation to the occupation in a working-age population
AID  - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2021.PA3185
DP  - 2021 Sep 05
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - PA3185
VI  - 58
IP  - suppl 65
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/58/suppl_65/PA3185.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/58/suppl_65/PA3185.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2021 Sep 05; 58
AB  - Background: Respiratory infections may spread differently in different working environments.Objective: We assessed occupation as a determinant of the occurrence of upper and lower respiratory tract infections in a working-age population.Methods: We analysed a population-based cross-sectional sample of 932 working-age adults living in the Pirkanmaa Hospital District in Southern Finland. We assessed potential relations between occupation and the occurrence of upper respiratory infections, including common cold, sinusitis, and otitis media and lower respiratory tract infections, including acute bronchitis and pneumonia during the past 12 months. We estimated incidence rate ratios (IRR) and risk ratios (RR) adjusting for age, sex, and smoking habits in Poisson regression models with log links. Professionals, clerks, and administrative personnel constituted the reference group.Results: The mean IR for common cold was 1.23 (95% CI 1.16-1.30) per 12 months and 7.27% (95% CI  5.57-8.97) had experienced at least one lower respiratory tract infection. We identified elevated occurrences of common cold among forestry and related workers (aIRR 3.53, 95% CI 1.30-9.54), drivers (1.43, 1.01-2.02), and farmers and agricultural workers (1.30, 0.97-1.75) and elevated risks of lower respiratory tract infections among forestry and related workers (aRR 9.45, 5.12-17.45) and printers (3.15, 0.97-10.23).Conclusions: Our results indicate differences in respiratory infections according to the occupation.FootnotesCite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2021; 58: Suppl. 65, PA3185.This abstract was presented at the 2021 ERS International Congress, in session “Prediction of exacerbations in patients with COPD”.This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).