PREVALENCE OF SELF-REPORTED RESPIRATORY-DISEASE SYMPTOMS AMONG VETERINARIANS IN THE SOUTHERN NETHERLANDS

In June 1991, 831 veterinarians registered in the Southern Netherlands were mailed a questionnaire to obtain details of work practice and he alth problems. One hundred fifty-two veterinarians were not eligible ( retired or nor working regularly), 497 practitioners returned a comple te questionnaire (73% response rate). The purpose was to assess the pr evalence of respiratory disease symptoms (RDS) and to compare the prev alence of RDS between occupational specialties and with a group of swi ne farmers. The professional specialty of each veterinarian was groupe d as: small-animal practice (17%), large-animal practice (51%), mixed- animal practice (14%), and other practice (i.e., government, industry) (18%). Adjusted for age, gender, smoking, history of atopy, and use o f respiratory protective devices, large-animal practitioners had a two times higher odds of chronic cough (OR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.1-2.8) or chro nic phlegm production (OR = 2.1, 95% CI 1.1-3.7) and a three times hig her odds of chest wheezing (OR = 2.8, 95% CI 1.3-6.3) than veterinaria ns with another specialty. Modelling the occurrence of RDS in veterina rians with exposure variables indicated that working more than 20 hr p er week in swine confinement buildings increased the odds of occurrenc e of chronic cough and chronic phlegm production approximately three t imes, in addition to a significant effect of smoking. Besides a signif icant effect of smoking and history of atopy, no exposure variables ot her than occupation were associated with occurrence of asthmatic attac ks in swine farmers and large-animal practitioners. Large-animal pract itioners had a two times higher odds of asthmatic attacks (OR = 1.8, 9 5% CI 1.1-2.9) than swine farmers. Large-animal practitioners have a c onsiderably higher proportion of symptoms like cough, phlegm productio n, a stuffed up nose, sneezing, and tearing eyes than small-animal pra ctitioners during, and 4-8 hr after working with animals. (C) 1996 Wil ey-Liss, Inc.