Journal
OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE
Volume 74, Issue 2, Pages 130-137Publisher
BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2016-103606
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [R01 OH-10359]
- National Institutes of Health [UM1 CA176726]
- Hubert Curien Partnerships for French-Dutch cooperation
- French Ministry of Higher Education and Research
- OCW Dutch Ministry (Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap) [PHC Van Gogh 33653RF]
- University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines EDSP doctoral grant
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objectives Occupational exposure to disinfectants is associated with work-related asthma, especially in healthcare workers. However, little is known about the specific products involved. To evaluate disinfectant exposures, we designed job-exposure (JEM) and job-task-exposure (JTEM) matrices, which are thought to be less prone to differential misclassification bias than self-reported exposure. We then compared the three assessment methods: self-reported exposure, JEM and JTEM. Methods Disinfectant use was assessed by an occupational questionnaire in 9073 US female registered nurses without asthma, aged 49-68 years, drawn from the Nurses' Health Study II. A JEM was created based on self-reported frequency of use (1-3, 4-7 days/week) of 7 disinfectants and sprays in 8 nursing jobs. We then created a JTEM combining jobs and disinfection tasks to further reduce misclassification. Exposure was evaluated in 3 classes (low, medium, high) using product-specific cut-offs (eg, <30%, 30-49.9%, >= 50%, respectively, for alcohol); the cut-offs were defined from the distribution of self-reported exposure per job/task. Results The most frequently reported disinfectants were alcohol (weekly use: 39%), bleach (22%) and sprays (20%). More nurses were classified as highly exposed by JTEM (alcohol 41%, sprays 41%, bleach 34%) than by JEM (21%, 30%, 26%, respectively). Agreement between JEM and JTEM was fair-to-moderate (kappa 0.3-0.5) for most disinfectants. JEM and JTEM exposure estimates were heterogeneous in most nursing jobs, except in emergency room and education/administration. Conclusions The JTEM may provide more accurate estimates than the JEM, especially for nursing jobs with heterogeneous tasks. Use of the JTEM is likely to reduce exposure misclassification.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available