Prevalence of occupational asthma among automobile and furniture painters in the center of Eskisehir (Turkey): the effects of atopy and smoking habits on occupational asthma

Background Occupational asthma (OA) is respiratory disorder characterized b y airway hyperreactivity caused by agents present in the workplace. For det ermination of the prevalence of OA among car and furniture painters exposed to isocyanate id the center of Eskisehir, Turkey, a clinical and epidemiol ogic prospective study in three phases was done, incorporating 312 (89.4%) of the painters. Methods Of these subjects, 190 (61%) were furniture painters and 122 (39%) automobile painters. In the first phase of the study, a modified questionna ire and pulmonary function test (PFT) were done. During the second phase, p eak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) was monitored in 52 subjects whose complain ts were confirmed and who agreed to a month of such monitoring. In the thir d phase, nonspecific bronchial provocation tests (NSBPT) with histamine wer e done on 23 of the PEFR-monitored workers. Results Finally, through questionnaire, typical history, PFT, PEFR monitori ng, and NSBPT, 30 workers (9.6%) were diagnosed as having OA. Smoking habit s and atopy in the OA-diagnosed workers were found to be statistically sign ificantly high in comparison to the other workers. Conclusions It was concluded that OA is a common disorder among automobile and furniture painters, and smoking habits and atopy were seen to have a si gnificant effect on OA occurrence.