Association between occupational clusters and allergic rhinitis in the Korean population: analysis of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the association between occupational clusters and allergic rhinitis (AR). METHODS: The study was based on data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES: 2007-2015). This study included 46,965 individuals: 20,491 men and 26,474 women. AR was defined as having been diagnosed by a physician. Occupations were classified according to occupational characteristics and skill levels into white (chief executives, senior officials, legislators, managers, professionals, and technicians), pink (clerks, clerical support workers, services and sales workers), blue (craft and related trades workers, drivers, plant and machine operators, assemblers, elementary occupation workers), and green (skilled agricultural, forestry, and fishery workers) categories. We calculated the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of AR according to the occupational clusters by using the chi-squared test and logistic regression. RESULTS: In the study population, 10.7% of the men and 13.5% of the women had AR. The prevalence of AR was highest among white-collar workers, followed by pink, blue, and green-collar workers. Compared to green-collar workers, among men the adjusted ORs of the blue, pink, and white-collar workers were 2.00 (95% CI 1.58-2.53), 2.46 (95% CI 1.91-3.15), and 2.78 (95% CI 2.20-3.51), respectively; and among women were 2.45 (95% CI 1.99-3.02), 2.64 (95% CI 2.15-3.25), and 3.63 (95% CI 2.96-4.47), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that AR prevalence is significantly associated with occupational clusters.