A validated asthma questionnaire for healthcare workers

描述（由申请人提供）：职业性哮喘（OA）目前是 最常报告的与工作有关的呼吸道疾病诊断， 发达国家。卫生保健工作者（HCW），一个代表 大约7%的美国劳动力，是其中的一些 有患骨性关节炎风险的职业群体，据报告， 哮喘在护士、动物管理员、呼吸治疗师中的发生率， 医生和制药商等等。相对较少 已经发表了一些关于哮喘正式验证的研究 调查问卷，迄今为止的验证主要集中在能力， 预测人群中哮喘的问卷调查项目。为了使用 研究哮喘和职业之间关系的问卷调查， 非职业性接触，获得的信息也很重要， 这些曝光是可靠和有效的。虽然有几份问卷 对于哮喘在工作场所的评估，很少有经过正式的， 深入验证。鉴于哮喘作为一种 职业病，显然需要更好，更可靠， 标准化的调查工具，可以检测哮喘在不同的 劳动人口及其与潜在就业人口的关系 病原体和触发器。我们建议开发、验证和现场测试一种 一种新的调查工具，用于医务人员中与工作有关的哮喘， 评估可能导致 与工作有关的哮喘的发展。这项为期3年的研究将在 两个阶段。第一阶段的具体目标是开发和验证一种新的 工作相关性哮喘调查工具，用于医疗机构。的 问卷将通过对以下方便样本进行管理进行验证： 100名HCW（包括哮喘和非哮喘），并将结果与“黄金”进行比较 哮喘标准（乙酰甲胆碱支气管激发试验）， 非职业暴露危险因素（RAST IgE特异性抗体组合 对抗常见的环境空气过敏原和乳胶）。职业暴露 将通过两种不同的方法确定：a）工作风险矩阵（JEM） 先前由NIOSH开发，用于医疗保健环境，并进行了修改， 特别关注哮喘，和B）自我报告的暴露，与 并辅以工业专家评审。先天发展了 将通过对该地区的一系列工作场所访问，验证和更新正义与平等运动 医院的第二阶段的具体目标是：1）交叉验证和现场 在四个基于人口的样本中测试新的调查工具 医务工作者的职业群体（每组400荷兰盾）（护士、医生、呼吸科医生、 治疗师和职业治疗师），通过他们各自的 许可证委员会在得克萨斯州; 2）估计和比较的患病率 职业性哮喘在这四个职业群体中的分布情况，3）分析 医务人员职业与非职业暴露之间的关系 有和没有哮喘，4）估计发病率， 这四个职业群体的哮喘负担。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Occupational asthma (OA) is currently the most frequently reported diagnosis of work-related respiratory disease in developed nations. Healthcare workers (HCWs), a sector representing approximately 7 percent of the U.S. workforce, are among some of the occupational groups at risk of development of OA, with reports of increased occurrence of asthma in nurses, animal handlers, respiratory therapists, physicians, and manufacturers of pharmaceuticals, among others. Relatively few studies have been published with information on formal validation of asthma questionnaires, and validation to date has largely focused on the ability of questionnaire items to predict asthma in populations. In order to use questionnaires to study associations between asthma and occupational and non-occupational exposures, it is also essential that the information obtained on these exposures be reliable and valid. Although several questionnaires exist for the evaluation of asthma in the workplace, very few have undergone formal, in-depth validation. Given the increasing importance of asthma as an occupational disease, there is a clear need for better and more reliable, standardized survey instruments that allow the detection of asthma in different working populations, and its characterization in relation to potential etiologic agents and triggers. We propose to develop, validate and field test a new survey instrument for work-related asthma among HCWs, which permits the assessment of occupational and non-occupational exposures that may result in the development of work-related asthma. This 3-year study will be conducted in two phases. The specific aim of Phase I will be to develop and validate a new survey instrument of work- related asthma, for use in healthcare settings. The questionnaire will be validated by administering it to a convenience sample of 100 HCWs (both with and without asthma), and comparing results to "gold standards" for asthma (methacholine bronchial challenge test) and non-occupational exposures risk factors (RAST IgE-specific antibody panel against common environmental aeroallergens and latex). Occupational exposures will be determined by two separate methods: a) a job-exposure matrix (JEM) previously developed by NIOSH for use in healthcare settings, and modified to focus specifically on asthmagens, and b) self-reported exposures, compared to and supplemented by expert industrial hygienist review. The apriori developed JEM will be validated and updated through a series of workplace visits to area hospitals. The specific aims of Phase 2 will be to: 1) cross-validate and field test the new survey instrument in a population-based sample of four occupational groups (nl400 per group) of HCWs (nurses, physicians, respiratory therapists, and occupational therapists), identified through their respective licensing boards in Texas; 2) estimate and compare the prevalence of work-related asthma among these four occupational groups,3) analyze associations between occupational and non-occupational exposures among HCWs with and without asthma in this nonulation and 4) estimate the occunational burden of asthma in these four occupational groups.