TY - JOUR
T1 - Occupational airborne exposure in relation to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and lung function in individuals without childhood wheezing illness
T2 - a 50-year cohort study
AU - Tagiyeva, Nara
AU - Sadhra, Steven
AU - Mohammed, Nuredin
AU - Fielding, Shona
AU - Devereux, Graham
AU - Teo, Ed
AU - Ayres, Jon
AU - Douglas, J. Graham
N1 - This study was funded by Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland (CHHS), Grant no. R13/A148.
The funder had no role in study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation, writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. All authors had full access to all the data in the study. The corresponding author had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.
PY - 2017/2
Y1 - 2017/2
N2 - BackgroundEvidence from longitudinal population-based studies relating occupational exposure to the full range of different forms of airborne pollutants and lung function and airway obstruction is limited.ObjectiveTo relate self-reported COPD and lung function impairment to occupational exposure to different forms of airborne chemical pollutants in individuals who did not have childhood wheeze.MethodsA prospective cohort study was randomly selected in 1964 at age 10–15 years and followed up in 1989, 1995, 2001 and 2014 (aged 58–64) by spirometry and respiratory questionnaire. Occupational histories were recorded in 2014 and occupational exposures assigned using an airborne chemical job exposure matrix. The risk of COPD and lung function impairment was analyzed in subjects, who did not have childhood wheeze, using logistic and linear regression and linear mixed effects models.Results237 subjects without childhood wheeze (mean age 60.6 years, 47% male) were analyzed. There was no association between any respiratory outcomes and exposure to gases, fibers, mists or mineral dusts and no consistent associations with exposure to fumes. Reduced FEV1 was associated with longer duration (years) of exposure to any of the six main pollutant forms - vapors, gases, dusts, fumes, fibers and mists (VGDFFiM) with evidence of a dose-response relationship (p-trend=0.004). Exposure to biological dusts was associated with self-reported COPD and FEV1<Lower Limit of Normal (LLN) (adjusted odds ratio [95%CI] 4.59 [1.15,18.32] and 3.54 [1.21,10.35] respectively), and reduced FEF25–75% (adjusted regression coefficients [95% CIs] −9.11 [−17.38, −0.84] respectively). Exposure to vapors was associated with self-reported COPD and FEV1<LLN (adjOR 6.46 [1.18,35.37] and 4.82 [1.32,17.63]). Longitudinal analysis demonstrated reduced FEV1 and FEF25–75% associated with exposure to biological dusts or vapors.ConclusionsPeople with no history of childhood wheezing who have been occupationally exposed to biological dusts or vapors or had longer duration of lifetime exposure to any VGDFFiM are at a higher risk of reduced lung function at age 58–64 years. Occupational exposure to biological dusts or vapors also increased the risk of self-reported COPD.
AB - BackgroundEvidence from longitudinal population-based studies relating occupational exposure to the full range of different forms of airborne pollutants and lung function and airway obstruction is limited.ObjectiveTo relate self-reported COPD and lung function impairment to occupational exposure to different forms of airborne chemical pollutants in individuals who did not have childhood wheeze.MethodsA prospective cohort study was randomly selected in 1964 at age 10–15 years and followed up in 1989, 1995, 2001 and 2014 (aged 58–64) by spirometry and respiratory questionnaire. Occupational histories were recorded in 2014 and occupational exposures assigned using an airborne chemical job exposure matrix. The risk of COPD and lung function impairment was analyzed in subjects, who did not have childhood wheeze, using logistic and linear regression and linear mixed effects models.Results237 subjects without childhood wheeze (mean age 60.6 years, 47% male) were analyzed. There was no association between any respiratory outcomes and exposure to gases, fibers, mists or mineral dusts and no consistent associations with exposure to fumes. Reduced FEV1 was associated with longer duration (years) of exposure to any of the six main pollutant forms - vapors, gases, dusts, fumes, fibers and mists (VGDFFiM) with evidence of a dose-response relationship (p-trend=0.004). Exposure to biological dusts was associated with self-reported COPD and FEV1<Lower Limit of Normal (LLN) (adjusted odds ratio [95%CI] 4.59 [1.15,18.32] and 3.54 [1.21,10.35] respectively), and reduced FEF25–75% (adjusted regression coefficients [95% CIs] −9.11 [−17.38, −0.84] respectively). Exposure to vapors was associated with self-reported COPD and FEV1<LLN (adjOR 6.46 [1.18,35.37] and 4.82 [1.32,17.63]). Longitudinal analysis demonstrated reduced FEV1 and FEF25–75% associated with exposure to biological dusts or vapors.ConclusionsPeople with no history of childhood wheezing who have been occupationally exposed to biological dusts or vapors or had longer duration of lifetime exposure to any VGDFFiM are at a higher risk of reduced lung function at age 58–64 years. Occupational exposure to biological dusts or vapors also increased the risk of self-reported COPD.
KW - COPD
KW - lung function
KW - occupational exposure
KW - airborne pollutants
KW - job exposure matrix
U2 - 10.1016/j.envres.2016.11.018
DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2016.11.018
M3 - Article
VL - 153
SP - 126
EP - 134
JO - Environmental Research
JF - Environmental Research
SN - 0013-9351
ER -