TY - JOUR T1 - Occupational dust or gas exposure and prevalences of respiratory symptoms and asthma in a general population JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 273 LP - 278 DO - 10.1183/09031936.93.04030273 VL - 4 IS - 3 AU - P Bakke AU - GE Eide AU - R Hanoa AU - A Gulsvik Y1 - 1991/03/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/4/3/273.abstract N2 - The relationship of occupational airborne, exposure to respiratory symptoms and asthma was examined using a self-administered questionnaire in a cross-sectional survey of a random sample (n = 4,992 subjects) of the general population aged 15-70 yrs of Hordaland county, Norway. The response rate was 90%. Twenty nine percent of the population had a history of occupational dust or gas exposure, 5% reported having been exposed to asbestos at work, and 4% reported quartz exposure. A history of occupational dust or gas exposure was associated with morning cough, chronic cough, phlegm when coughing, breathlessness on exercise, occasional wheezing and a physician's diagnosis of asthma after adjusting for sex, age, smoking habits and urban-rural area of residence. The adjusted relative odds ratios for the respiratory disorders in subjects exposed to dust or gas ranged from 1.6-1.9. The population attributable risk of occupational dust or gas exposure for the respiratory disorders ranged from 11-19%. The study indicates that respiratory disorders are independently associated with occupational airborne exposure in a Norwegian general population sample. ER -