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Respiratory symptoms and use of dust-control measures in New Zealand construction workers – A cross-sectional study

Dust-exposed construction workers have an increased risk of respiratory symptoms, but the efficacy of dust-control measures remains unclear. This study compared respiratory symptoms, using a modified European Community Respiratory Health Survey questionnaire, between construction workers (n = 208) a...

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Autores principales: Keer, Samuel, Brooks, Collin, Glass, Bill, McLean, Dave, Harding, Elizabeth, Douwes, Jeroen
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8989237/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35390070
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266668
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author Keer, Samuel
Brooks, Collin
Glass, Bill
McLean, Dave
Harding, Elizabeth
Douwes, Jeroen
author_facet Keer, Samuel
Brooks, Collin
Glass, Bill
McLean, Dave
Harding, Elizabeth
Douwes, Jeroen
author_sort Keer, Samuel
collection PubMed
description Dust-exposed construction workers have an increased risk of respiratory symptoms, but the efficacy of dust-control measures remains unclear. This study compared respiratory symptoms, using a modified European Community Respiratory Health Survey questionnaire, between construction workers (n = 208) and a reference group of bus drivers and retail workers (n = 142). Within the construction workers, we assessed the effect of collective (on-tool vacuum/’wet-cut’ systems) and personal (respirators) exposure controls on symptom prevalence. Logistic regression assessed differences between groups, adjusted for age, ethnicity, and smoking status. Construction workers were more likely to cough with phlegm at least once a week (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.2–4.7) and cough with phlegm ≥3 months/year for ≥2 years (OR 2.8, CI 1.2–7.0), but they had similar or fewer asthma symptoms. Construction workers who had worked for 11–20 years reported more cough/phlegm symptoms (OR 5.1, 1.7–15.0 for cough with phlegm ≥3 months/year for ≥2 years) than those who had worked <10 years (OR 1.9, 0.6–5.8), when compared to the reference group. Those who used ‘wet-cut’ methods reported less cough with phlegm, although the evidence for this association was weak (OR 0.4, CI 0.2–1.1 for cough with phlegm at least once a week); use of on-tool extraction showed a similar trend. No associations between respiratory protective equipment-use and symptoms were found. In conclusion, construction workers reported more symptoms suggestive of bronchitis, particularly those employed in the industry for >10 years. Use of collective dust exposure controls might protect against these symptoms, but this requires confirmation in a larger study.
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spelling pubmed-89892372022-04-08 Respiratory symptoms and use of dust-control measures in New Zealand construction workers – A cross-sectional study Keer, Samuel Brooks, Collin Glass, Bill McLean, Dave Harding, Elizabeth Douwes, Jeroen PLoS One Research Article Dust-exposed construction workers have an increased risk of respiratory symptoms, but the efficacy of dust-control measures remains unclear. This study compared respiratory symptoms, using a modified European Community Respiratory Health Survey questionnaire, between construction workers (n = 208) and a reference group of bus drivers and retail workers (n = 142). Within the construction workers, we assessed the effect of collective (on-tool vacuum/’wet-cut’ systems) and personal (respirators) exposure controls on symptom prevalence. Logistic regression assessed differences between groups, adjusted for age, ethnicity, and smoking status. Construction workers were more likely to cough with phlegm at least once a week (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.2–4.7) and cough with phlegm ≥3 months/year for ≥2 years (OR 2.8, CI 1.2–7.0), but they had similar or fewer asthma symptoms. Construction workers who had worked for 11–20 years reported more cough/phlegm symptoms (OR 5.1, 1.7–15.0 for cough with phlegm ≥3 months/year for ≥2 years) than those who had worked <10 years (OR 1.9, 0.6–5.8), when compared to the reference group. Those who used ‘wet-cut’ methods reported less cough with phlegm, although the evidence for this association was weak (OR 0.4, CI 0.2–1.1 for cough with phlegm at least once a week); use of on-tool extraction showed a similar trend. No associations between respiratory protective equipment-use and symptoms were found. In conclusion, construction workers reported more symptoms suggestive of bronchitis, particularly those employed in the industry for >10 years. Use of collective dust exposure controls might protect against these symptoms, but this requires confirmation in a larger study. Public Library of Science 2022-04-07 /pmc/articles/PMC8989237/ /pubmed/35390070 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266668 Text en © 2022 Keer et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Keer, Samuel
Brooks, Collin
Glass, Bill
McLean, Dave
Harding, Elizabeth
Douwes, Jeroen
Respiratory symptoms and use of dust-control measures in New Zealand construction workers – A cross-sectional study
title Respiratory symptoms and use of dust-control measures in New Zealand construction workers – A cross-sectional study
title_full Respiratory symptoms and use of dust-control measures in New Zealand construction workers – A cross-sectional study
title_fullStr Respiratory symptoms and use of dust-control measures in New Zealand construction workers – A cross-sectional study
title_full_unstemmed Respiratory symptoms and use of dust-control measures in New Zealand construction workers – A cross-sectional study
title_short Respiratory symptoms and use of dust-control measures in New Zealand construction workers – A cross-sectional study
title_sort respiratory symptoms and use of dust-control measures in new zealand construction workers – a cross-sectional study
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8989237/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35390070
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266668
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