[The epidemiology of occupational asthma in Belgium]
(2005) Revue des Maladies Respiratoires — Vol. 22, n° 3, p. 421-430 (2005)
Files
No attached file found for this publication.
Details
- Authors
- Abstract
- Introduction A national surveillance programme of occupational asthma was set up to estimate the incidence and identify the causes of this disorder in Belgium. Materials and methods The programme was based on the voluntary notification of new cases of occupational asthma by chest specialists and occupational physicians during the period 2000-2002. Results 92% of the reported cases included occupational asthma of an immunological type and 8% bronchial irritability. According to the opinion of the reporting physicians the diagnosis was considered certain in 39%, probable in 29% and possible in 32% of cases. On the basis of these notifications the mean annual incidence of occupational asthma is estimated as 23.5 cases per million workers (95% confidence interval 19.2-28.8). The most frequently incriminated substances were isocyanates (16%), cereals (12%) and latex (10%). At the time of diagnosis 38% of patients had not applied for compensation. Conclusion The results of this programme of notification of occupational asthma agree with the data available from other countries and provide information complementary to the med-ico-legal statistics.
- Affiliations
Citations
Vandenplas, O., Larbanos, A., Bugli, C., Kempeneers, E., & Nemery, B. (2005). [The epidemiology of occupational asthma in Belgium]. Revue des Maladies Respiratoires, 22(3), 421-430. https://doi.org/10.1019/200530010 (Original work published 2005)