Occupational cold exposure in relation to incident airway symptoms in northern Sweden : a prospective population-based study
OBJECTIVE: To determine if occupational exposure to cold environments is associated with incident airway symptoms in previously healthy workers. METHODS: A prospective, survey-based, closed-cohort study was conducted on a sample of 5017 men and women between 18 and 70 years of age, living in norther...
Published in: | International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health |
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Umeå universitet, Avdelningen för hållbar hälsa
2022
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ftumeauniv:oai:DiVA.org:umu-198816 2023-10-09T21:54:31+02:00 Occupational cold exposure in relation to incident airway symptoms in northern Sweden : a prospective population-based study Stjernbrandt, Albin Hedman, Linnea Liljelind, Ingrid Wahlström, Jens 2022 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-198816 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-022-01884-2 eng eng Umeå universitet, Avdelningen för hållbar hälsa International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 0340-0131, 2022, 95:9, s. 1871-1879 orcid:0000-0001-6082-8465 orcid:0000-0002-1630-3167 orcid:0000-0002-5936-1172 orcid:0000-0002-2359-509x http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-198816 doi:10.1007/s00420-022-01884-2 PMID 35641664 ISI:000803788900002 Scopus 2-s2.0-85131101312 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Asthma Cold exposure Cough Longitudinal studies Occupational exposure Pulmonary disease chronic obstructive Occupational Health and Environmental Health Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin Article in journal info:eu-repo/semantics/article text 2022 ftumeauniv https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-022-01884-2 2023-09-22T13:56:33Z OBJECTIVE: To determine if occupational exposure to cold environments is associated with incident airway symptoms in previously healthy workers. METHODS: A prospective, survey-based, closed-cohort study was conducted on a sample of 5017 men and women between 18 and 70 years of age, living in northern Sweden. Data on occupation, occupational and leisure-time cold exposure, airway symptoms, general health, and tobacco habits were collected during the winters of 2015 (baseline) and 2021 (follow-up). Stepwise multiple logistic regression was used to determine associations between baseline variables and incident airway symptoms. RESULTS: For individuals working at baseline, without physician-diagnosed asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, reporting any occupational cold exposure was associated with incident wheeze (OR 1.41; 95% CI 1.06-1.87) and incident productive cough (OR 1.37; 95% CI 1.06-1.77), but not incident long-standing cough (OR 0.98; 95% CI 0.74-1.29), after adjusting for age, body mass index, daily smoking, and occupational physical workload. Detailed analysis of the occupational cold exposure rating did not reveal clear exposure-response patterns for any of the outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Occupational cold exposure was robustly associated with incident wheeze and productive cough in previously healthy workers. This adds further support to the notion that cold air is harmful for the airways, and that a structured risk assessment regarding occupational cold exposure could be considered for inclusion in the Swedish workplace legislation. Further studies are needed to elaborate on exposure-response functions, as well as suggest thresholds for hazardous cold exposure. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Sweden Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 95 9 1871 1879 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftumeauniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Asthma Cold exposure Cough Longitudinal studies Occupational exposure Pulmonary disease chronic obstructive Occupational Health and Environmental Health Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin |
spellingShingle |
Asthma Cold exposure Cough Longitudinal studies Occupational exposure Pulmonary disease chronic obstructive Occupational Health and Environmental Health Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin Stjernbrandt, Albin Hedman, Linnea Liljelind, Ingrid Wahlström, Jens Occupational cold exposure in relation to incident airway symptoms in northern Sweden : a prospective population-based study |
topic_facet |
Asthma Cold exposure Cough Longitudinal studies Occupational exposure Pulmonary disease chronic obstructive Occupational Health and Environmental Health Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin |
description |
OBJECTIVE: To determine if occupational exposure to cold environments is associated with incident airway symptoms in previously healthy workers. METHODS: A prospective, survey-based, closed-cohort study was conducted on a sample of 5017 men and women between 18 and 70 years of age, living in northern Sweden. Data on occupation, occupational and leisure-time cold exposure, airway symptoms, general health, and tobacco habits were collected during the winters of 2015 (baseline) and 2021 (follow-up). Stepwise multiple logistic regression was used to determine associations between baseline variables and incident airway symptoms. RESULTS: For individuals working at baseline, without physician-diagnosed asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, reporting any occupational cold exposure was associated with incident wheeze (OR 1.41; 95% CI 1.06-1.87) and incident productive cough (OR 1.37; 95% CI 1.06-1.77), but not incident long-standing cough (OR 0.98; 95% CI 0.74-1.29), after adjusting for age, body mass index, daily smoking, and occupational physical workload. Detailed analysis of the occupational cold exposure rating did not reveal clear exposure-response patterns for any of the outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Occupational cold exposure was robustly associated with incident wheeze and productive cough in previously healthy workers. This adds further support to the notion that cold air is harmful for the airways, and that a structured risk assessment regarding occupational cold exposure could be considered for inclusion in the Swedish workplace legislation. Further studies are needed to elaborate on exposure-response functions, as well as suggest thresholds for hazardous cold exposure. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stjernbrandt, Albin Hedman, Linnea Liljelind, Ingrid Wahlström, Jens |
author_facet |
Stjernbrandt, Albin Hedman, Linnea Liljelind, Ingrid Wahlström, Jens |
author_sort |
Stjernbrandt, Albin |
title |
Occupational cold exposure in relation to incident airway symptoms in northern Sweden : a prospective population-based study |
title_short |
Occupational cold exposure in relation to incident airway symptoms in northern Sweden : a prospective population-based study |
title_full |
Occupational cold exposure in relation to incident airway symptoms in northern Sweden : a prospective population-based study |
title_fullStr |
Occupational cold exposure in relation to incident airway symptoms in northern Sweden : a prospective population-based study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Occupational cold exposure in relation to incident airway symptoms in northern Sweden : a prospective population-based study |
title_sort |
occupational cold exposure in relation to incident airway symptoms in northern sweden : a prospective population-based study |
publisher |
Umeå universitet, Avdelningen för hållbar hälsa |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-198816 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-022-01884-2 |
genre |
Northern Sweden |
genre_facet |
Northern Sweden |
op_relation |
International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 0340-0131, 2022, 95:9, s. 1871-1879 orcid:0000-0001-6082-8465 orcid:0000-0002-1630-3167 orcid:0000-0002-5936-1172 orcid:0000-0002-2359-509x http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-198816 doi:10.1007/s00420-022-01884-2 PMID 35641664 ISI:000803788900002 Scopus 2-s2.0-85131101312 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-022-01884-2 |
container_title |
International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health |
container_volume |
95 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
1871 |
op_container_end_page |
1879 |
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1779318102119415808 |