Asthma attack in the past 12 months: Estimated prevalence among former cigarette smokers by occupation and sex, U.S. working adults aged ≥18 years, NHIS 2004–2011
| Occupation | Total | Male | Female | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimated Population | Prevalence (%) | 95% Confidence Interval | Estimated Population | Prevalence (%) | 95% Confidence Interval | Estimated Population | Prevalence (%) | 95% Confidence Interval | |
| Management | |||||||||
| Chief executives; general and operations managers; legislators | 518,030 | 2.5* | 0.6–4.4 | 407,331 | 1.4* | 0.0–2.7 | 110,699 | † | † |
| Advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales managers | 159,429 | † | † | 97,710 | † | † | 61,719 | † | † |
| Operations specialties managers | 571,583 | 3.3 | 1.7–4.9 | 327,512 | 3.6* | 1.2–6.0 | 244,071 | 2.9* | 0.8–5.1 |
| Other management occupations | 1,773,378 | 3.7 | 2.4–4.9 | 1,176,164 | 2.4 | 1.5–3.3 | 597,214 | 6.2 | 2.9–9.4 |
| Business and Financial Operations | |||||||||
| Business operations specialists | 703,509 | 4.0 | 1.9–6.1 | 346,368 | † | † | 357,141 | 7.5 | 3.5–11.5 |
| Financial specialists | 584,775 | 3.3 | 1.7–4.8 | 278,566 | 2.1* | 0.4–3.7 | 306,209 | 4.4* | 1.7–7.0 |
| Computer and Mathematical | |||||||||
| Computer specialists | 672,015 | 5.6 | 2.9–8.2 | 521,488 | 4.5* | 1.7–7.2 | 150,527 | 9.3* | 2.4–16.2 |
| Mathematical science occupations | 31,777 | – | – | 13,463 | – | – | 18,314 | – | – |
| Architecture and Engineering | |||||||||
| Architects, surveyors, and cartographers | 49,631 | – | – | 42,251 | – | – | 7,380 | – | – |
| Engineers | 360,699 | 2.5* | 0.5–4.5 | 333,224 | 2.7* | 0.5–4.9 | 27,475 | – | – |
| Drafters, engineering, and mapping technicians | 155,186 | 3.3* | 0.1–6.6 | 143,381 | 3.6* | 0.1–7.1 | 11,806 | – | – |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science | |||||||||
| Life scientists | 85,659 | – | – | 54,435 | – | – | 31,224 | – | – |
| Physical scientists | 64,450 | † | † | 46,541 | † | † | 17,909 | † | † |
| Social scientists and related workers | 117,730 | † | † | 48,996 | † | † | 68,734 | † | † |
| Life, physical, and social science technicians | 60,696 | † | † | 41,752 | – | – | 18,944 | † | † |
| Community and Social Services | |||||||||
| Counselors, social workers, and other community and social service specialists | 365,732 | 7.3 | 3.9–10.7 | 106,087 | 6.9* | 0.4–13.4 | 259,645 | 7.5 | 3.5–11.5 |
| Religious workers | 113,725 | † | † | 90,370 | † | † | 23,355 | † | † |
| Legal | |||||||||
| Lawyers, judges, and related workers | 236,581 | † | † | 158,596 | † | † | 77,985 | † | † |
| Legal support workers | 125,677 | 4.2* | 0.5–7.9 | 32,414 | – | – | 93,263 | 5.7* | 0.7–10.6 |
| Education, Training, and Library | |||||||||
| Postsecondary teachers | 260,781 | 4.3* | 1.7–7.0 | 136,553 | 4.0* | 0.2–7.7 | 124,229 | 4.7* | 0.9–8.5 |
| Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers | 805,821 | 5.2 | 3.3–7.0 | 187,432 | † | † | 618,389 | 6.2 | 4.0–8.4 |
| Other teachers and instructors | 137,971 | 3.8* | 0.2–7.3 | 62,152 | † | † | 75,819 | † | † |
| Librarians, curators, and archivists | 58,550 | † | † | 11,014 | – | – | 47,536 | † | † |
| Other education, training, and library occupations | 184,349 | 6.2 | 2.6–9.9 | 17,425 | – | – | 166,924 | 6.9 | 2.9–10.9 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media | |||||||||
| Art and design workers | 246,192 | 4.2* | 0.6–7.7 | 128,705 | † | † | 117,487 | 5.3* | 0.7–9.9 |
| Entertainers and performers, sports and related workers | 116,826 | † | † | 79,537 | † | † | 37,289 | † | † |
| Media and communication workers | 157,550 | 4.9* | 1.3–8.6 | 81,659 | † | † | 75,892 | 7.1* | 0.5–13.6 |
| Media and communication equipment workers | 60,942 | † | † | 36,302 | – | – | 24,639 | † | † |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical | |||||||||
| Health diagnosing and treating practitioners | 896,607 | 5.7 | 3.7–7.7 | 258,473 | † | † | 638,134 | 7.5 | 4.8–10.1 |
| Health technologists and technicians | 391,505 | 6.2 | 3.2–9.1 | 92,462 | – | – | 299,043 | 8.1 | 4.2–12.0 |
| Other healthcare practitioners and technical | 12,391 | – | – | 8,253 | – | – | 4,139 | – | – |
| Healthcare Support | |||||||||
| Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides | 253,547 | 7.7 | 4.1–11.4 | 48,206 | – | – | 205,341 | 9.6 | 5.1–14.0 |
| Occupational and physical therapist assistants and aides | 6,234 | – | – | † | nc | nc | 5,640 | – | – |
| Other healthcare support occupations | 176,169 | 4.7* | 1.3–8.1 | 26,844 | † | † | 149,325 | 5.3* | 1.4–9.2 |
| Protective Service | |||||||||
| First-line supervisors/managers, protective service workers | 67,926 | † | † | 55,487 | † | † | 12,439 | – | – |
| Fire fighting and prevention workers | 65,381 | – | – | 63,235 | – | – | 2,146 | – | – |
| Law enforcement workers | 235,113 | 2.2* | 0.3–4.1 | 191,497 | 2.4* | 0.1–4.6 | 43,616 | † | † |
| Other protective service workers | 215,461 | 4.4* | 1.5–7.3 | 175,250 | 2.8* | 0.1–5.4 | 40,211 | 11.5* | 1.4–21.6 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related | |||||||||
| Supervisors, food preparation, and serving workers | 149,436 | 4.3* | 0.9–7.8 | 89,681 | † | † | 59,755 | 5.4* | 0.3–10.5 |
| Cooks and food preparation workers | 309,473 | 2.4* | 0.7–4.0 | 164,773 | † | † | 144,700 | 4.0* | 0.9–7.2 |
| Food and beverage serving working | 322,580 | 5.0* | 1.5–8.6 | 112,341 | † | † | 210,239 | 5.8* | 1.4–10.2 |
| Other food preparation and serving related workers | 77,240 | † | † | 44,876 | † | † | 32,364 | † | † |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance | |||||||||
| Supervisors, building and grounds cleaning and maintenance workers | 111,384 | † | † | 93,572 | † | † | 17,812 | † | † |
| Building cleaning and pest control workers | 616,081 | 3.3 | 1.8–4.7 | 360,654 | 2.0* | 0.5–3.5 | 255,427 | 5.0 | 2.3–7.8 |
| Grounds maintenance workers | 232,893 | † | † | 212,728 | † | † | 20,165 | † | † |
| Personal Care and Service | |||||||||
| Supervisors, personal care and service workers | 25,981 | – | – | 5,538 | – | – | 20,443 | – | – |
| Animal care and service workers | 39,612 | – | – | 12,053 | – | – | 27,559 | – | – |
| Entertainment attendants and related workers | 45,304 | † | † | 33,335 | † | † | 11,969 | † | † |
| Funeral service workers | † | nc | nc | † | nc | nc | – | nc | nc |
| Personal appearance workers | 197,885 | 3.9* | 0.6–7.3 | 27,577 | – | – | 170,308 | 4.6* | 0.7–8.4 |
| Transportation, tourism, and lodging attendants | 32,616 | – | – | 21,515 | – | – | 11,101 | – | – |
| Other personal care and service workers | 379,253 | 4.8 | 2.6–7.0 | 43,300 | † | † | 335,953 | 5.1 | 2.7–7.6 |
| Sales and Related | |||||||||
| Supervisors, sales workers | 745,778 | 2.6 | 1.3–3.9 | 503,214 | 1.5* | 0.2–2.8 | 242,564 | 4.9* | 1.6–8.1 |
| Retail sales workers | 889,791 | 2.4 | 1.4–3.5 | 412,663 | 1.6* | 0.4–2.8 | 477,129 | 3.1 | 1.5–4.8 |
| Sales representatives, services | 405,825 | 1.5* | 0.3–2.6 | 268,524 | † | † | 137,301 | † | † |
| Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing | 276,605 | † | † | 222,609 | † | † | 53,996 | † | † |
| Other sales and related workers | 399,735 | 3.8 | 1.8–5.9 | 208,276 | 3.3* | 0.4–6.1 | 191,458 | 4.4* | 1.4–7.5 |
| Office and Administrative Support | |||||||||
| Supervisors, office and administrative support workers | 318,668 | 6.2 | 3.1–9.3 | 98,079 | † | † | 220,589 | 8.8 | 4.5–13.0 |
| Communications equipment operators | 11,588 | † | † | † | nc | nc | 9,032 | † | † |
| Financial clerks | 559,401 | 6.1 | 3.6–8.6 | 79,894 | † | † | 479,507 | 6.5 | 3.7–9.3 |
| Information and record clerks | 815,076 | 3.8 | 2.3–5.2 | 195,263 | † | † | 619,813 | 4.3 | 2.6–6.1 |
| Material recording, scheduling, dispatching, and distributing workers | 600,427 | 4.0 | 2.2–5.7 | 382,043 | 3.1* | 1.2–5.0 | 218,384 | 5.4* | 1.8–9.0 |
| Secretaries and administrative assistants | 570,870 | 5.3 | 3.3–7.3 | 33,888 | † | † | 536,982 | 5.5 | 3.4–7.6 |
| Other office and administrative support workers | 467,984 | 6.0 | 3.5–8.4 | 111,159 | † | † | 356,824 | 7.1 | 4.1–10.2 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry | |||||||||
| Supervisors, farming, fishing, and forestry workers | 19,776 | – | – | 18,184 | – | – | † | nc | nc |
| Agricultural workers | 106,968 | † | † | 92,438 | † | † | 14,530 | † | † |
| Fishing and hunting workers | 11,278 | – | – | 11,278 | – | – | – | nc | nc |
| Forest, conservation, and logging workers | 8,752 | † | † | 8,752 | † | † | – | nc | nc |
| Construction and Extraction | |||||||||
| Supervisors, construction and extraction workers | 183,304 | † | † | 181,626 | † | † | 1,678 | – | – |
| Construction trades workers | 1,287,215 | 2.6 | 1.5–3.8 | 1,258,568 | 2.3 | 1.2–3.4 | 28,647 | 18.3* | 1.8–34.8 |
| Helpers, construction trades | 9,087 | † | † | 9,087 | † | † | – | nc | nc |
| Other construction and related workers | 92,903 | † | † | 92,485 | † | † | † | nc | nc |
| Extraction workers | 27,169 | † | † | 27,169 | † | † | – | nc | nc |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | |||||||||
| Supervisors of installation, maintenance, and repair workers | 96,003 | † | † | 92,103 | † | † | † | nc | nc |
| Electrical and electronic equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers | 197,354 | † | † | 177,306 | † | † | 20,048 | – | – |
| Vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers | 395,795 | † | † | 393,658 | † | † | 2,137 | – | – |
| Other installation, maintenance, and repair occupations | 518,450 | 4.8* | 1.9–7.8 | 506,674 | 5.0* | 2.0–7.9 | 11,776 | – | – |
| Production | |||||||||
| Supervisors, production workers | 205,592 | † | † | 176,336 | † | † | 29,256 | † | † |
| Assemblers and fabricators | 237,270 | 4.0* | 0.9–7.0 | 164,274 | † | † | 72,996 | 8.8* | 0.8–16.7 |
| Food processing workers | 70,182 | † | † | 47,130 | † | † | 23,052 | † | † |
| Metal workers and plastic workers | 382,965 | 3.2* | 1.2–5.2 | 343,589 | 3.4* | 1.2–5.6 | 39,376 | † | † |
| Printing workers | 88,746 | 6.3* | 0.7–11.9 | 65,795 | † | † | 22,951 | † | † |
| Textile, apparel, and furnishings workers | 118,158 | † | † | 58,624 | – | – | 59,534 | † | † |
| Woodworkers | 32,002 | – | – | 30,947 | – | – | 1,055 | – | – |
| Plant and system operators | 75,717 | † | † | 73,409 | † | † | 2,308 | – | – |
| Other production occupations | 576,520 | 2.3* | 0.9–3.7 | 433,985 | 1.9* | 0.4–3.4 | 142,535 | 3.7* | 0.3–7.0 |
| Transportation and Material Moving | |||||||||
| Supervisors, transportation and material moving workers | 52,655 | † | † | 38,783 | – | – | 13,872 | † | † |
| Air transportation workers | 40,619 | † | † | 32,133 | – | – | 8,487 | † | † |
| Motor vehicle operators | 974,404 | 2.6 | 1.5–3.8 | 863,430 | 1.8* | 0.7–2.8 | 110,974 | 9.4* | 3.4–15.4 |
| Rail transportation workers | 21,767 | – | – | 20,260 | – | – | † | nc | nc |
| Water transportation workers | 9,296 | – | – | 9,296 | – | – | – | nc | nc |
| Other transportation workers | 43,221 | † | † | 33,115 | † | † | † | nc | nc |
| Material moving workers | 514,387 | 3.2* | 1.2–5.1 | 455,727 | 2.6* | 0.6–4.5 | 58,661 | † | † |
| Millitary | 38,272 | † | † | 24,273 | † | † | 13,999 | † | † |
| Refused, Not Ascertained, Don’t Know | 484,798 | 1.6* | 0.5–2.7 | 312,038 | † | † | 172,760 | 2.9* | 0.4–5.5 |
| TOTAL | 26,626,600 | 3.7 | 2.8–3.3 | 15,725,229 | 2.2 | 1.9–2.5 | 10,901,371 | 5.8 | 5.2–6.4 |
nc - not calculated * Estimates with a relative standard error of >30% and ≤50% are statistically unstable due to small sample size and should be used with caution as they do not meet the standards of reliability. † Estimates with a relative standard error of >50% are suppressed. – No estimates due to no cases or no respondents.
Note:
Numbers presented are average annual estimates for the period 2004–2011. Prevalence estimates are weighted and are not age-adjusted. Estimated totals may not add up due to rounding/suppression.
Asthma attack is defined as those who have ever been told by a doctor or other health professional that they had asthma and during the past 12 months had an episode of asthma or an asthma attack. Former cigarette smokers are those who reported smoking ≥100 cigarettes in their lifetime and at the time of the interview did not smoke. Working adults are those who were employed in the week prior to the survey. Estimated populations represent current U.S. workers aged ≥18 years.
See Appendix for more details.
Source:
National Center for Health Statistics National Health Interview Surveys 2004 to 2011.
Citation:
NIOSH 2015. Work-Related Lung Disease Surveillance System (eWoRLD). 2015-880 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Respiratory Health Division, Morgantown, WV. Available at: <https://wwwn.cdc.gov/eWorld/Data/880> April 26, 2024.
Reference Number: 2015-880
Date Posted: October 2015
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