Abstract
Aims:
To assess the route to secondary care for patients with possible occupational asthma, and to document the duration of work-related symptoms and referral times.
Methods:
Consecutive patients with suspected occupational asthma were recruited to a case series from six secondary care clinics with an interest in occupational asthma. Semi-structured interviews were performed and hospital case notes were reviewed to summarise relevant investigations and diagnosis.
Results:
97 patients were recruited, with a mean age of 44.2 years (range 24–64), 51 of whom (53%) had occupational asthma confirmed as a diagnosis. Most (96%) had consulted their general practitioner (GP) at least once with work-related respiratory symptoms, although these had been present for a mean of 44.6 months (range 0–320 months) on presentation to secondary care. Patients experienced a mean delay for assessment in secondary care of 4 years (range 1–27 years) following presentation in primary care.
Conclusions:
Significant diagnostic delay currently occurs for patients with occupational asthma in the UK.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
There were no conflicts of interest for the authors in the preparation of this paper.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fishwick, D., Bradshaw, L., Davies, J. et al. Are we failing workers with symptoms suggestive of occupational asthma?. Prim Care Respir J 16, 304–310 (2007). https://doi.org/10.3132/pcrj.2007.00064
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3132/pcrj.2007.00064
This article is cited by
-
Improving detection of work-related asthma: a review of gaps in awareness, reporting and knowledge translation
Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology (2020)
-
Hospital Attendances and Acute Admissions Preceding a Diagnosis of Occupational Asthma
Lung (2019)
-
Prolonged exposure to damp and moldy workplaces and new-onset asthma
International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health (2011)
-
Asthma and Rhinitis in the Workplace
Current Allergy and Asthma Reports (2010)