RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Long-term clinical follow-up of irritant-induced occupational asthma
JF Occupational and Environmental Medicine
JO Occup Environ Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 588
OP 591
DO 10.1136/oemed-2024-109540
VO 81
IS 11
A1 Lantto, Jussi
A1 Suojalehto, Hille
A1 Jantunen, Hanna
A1 Lindström, Irmeli
YR 2024
UL http://oem.bmj.com/content/81/11/588.abstract
AB Background Occupational exposure to irritants is associated with poor asthma control, but the long-term clinical characteristics of irritant-induced occupational asthma (IIA) are poorly known.Objective To evaluate whether any distinguishable features contribute to IIA patients’ poor outcomes and whether clinical characteristics change over time.Methods We re-evaluated 28 IIA patients with a median of 6.8 years (IQR 4.6–11.1) after their diagnosis at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in 2004–2018. We measured their lung function, non-specific bronchial hyper-responsiveness, inflammation profile and exercise capacity using an ergometric bicycle test. The participants also underwent an Asthma Control Test (ACT) and responded to questionnaires assessing their laryngeal hypersensitivity (LHQ) and dysfunctional breathing (Nijmegen Questionnaires, NQ).Results At follow-up, 22 (79%) participants used inhaled corticosteroids, 4 (14%) had asthma exacerbation within 1 year, 11 (39%) had ACT<20 (ie, poor asthma symptom control), 7 (26%) had abnormal spirometry and 8 (36%) had a positive methacholine challenge test result. 17 (61%) participants showed at least one elevated eosinophilic inflammation marker. Six (23%) had an abnormal LHQ score and 7 (26%) had an abnormal NQ score. 15 (58%) participants showed reduced physical capacity that was related to extensive asthma medication, poor asthma symptom control and acute IIA phenotype. A higher ACT score was the only significant change between diagnosis and follow-up (p=0.014).Conclusion Most of the IIA patients had normal lung function at follow-up, which had only changed a little over time. Reduced physical capacity was a common finding and appears to be related to poor asthma symptom control.No data are available. The data are archived in the repository of Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, however, the data are publicly unavailable due to ethical reasons.