Prevention of Work-related Asthma: Study Search Results

Study Details

Prevention Level	Secondary
Author	Merget
Study Year	1999
Country	Germany
Molecular Weight of Agent	LMW
Category	Metals
Agent	Platinum
Occupation	Platinum refinery workers (Includes cohort reported by Merget, 1994)
Outcome/Diagnosis	Occupational asthma
Activity Intervention	Transfer to low exposure area, removal from exposure (FU median: 54 months)
Participation Rate	83 of 130 eligible subjects (Participation rate: 64%)
Intervention Effectiveness	Asthma symptoms were reported by all subjects who continued exposure at follow-up (n=9), but were reported by only 37 of 74 subjects who transferred; no difference found between subjects who transferred within production area (n=16), subjects who transferred within plant (n=39), and subjects who left the plant (n=19). Total IgE was higher in those who continued expsosure compared to the other groups (p<0.002). Lung function and nonspecific bronchial hyperresponsiveness were comparable between all the exposure groups.