Work dynamics of adults with asthma

Background: Asthma has been found to be among the most common conditions in the working age population and is among the most common causes of work lim itation, but we could find no longitudinal studies of employment among pers ons with this condition. Methods: A panel of 601 persons with a diagnosis of asthma from random samp les of northern California pulmonologists and allergy-immunologists were in terviewed as many as three rimes at 18-month intervals by a trained survey worker to report on the severity of disease, demographic characteristics, a nd the extent of their employment. Their employment was then compared to th at of a matched sample from the U.S. Bureau of the Census Current populatio n Survey. Results: Ninety-two percent of the persons with asthma had worked at some p oint prior to study enrollment. Among persons with onset during adulthood o nly 29% of those who were not employed at disease onset were working at stu dy enrollment, compared to 68% among those who were employed. Among the 420 persons interviewed three times, 75, 81, and 75%, respectively, were emplo yed as of the three interviews. Among these 420, 66% were continuously empl oyed and 15% were continuously not employed The principal determinants of c ontinuity of employment were demographic and employment characteristics, no t medical ones. The employment rate and hours of work per week and per year of the persons with asthma were similar to the matched sample. Conclusions: Asthma has not substantially impeded the employment of the per sons with asthma we studied with the exception that those who were not empl oyed at disease onset continued to have low employment rates. Am. J. Ind. M ed. 35:472-480, 1999. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.