TY - JOUR
T1 - Allergen sensitization and asthma outcomes among world trade center rescue and recovery workers
AU - Rojano, Belen
AU - West, Erin
AU - Ferdermann, Emily
AU - Markowitz, Steven
AU - Harrison, Denise
AU - Crowley, Laura
AU - Busse, Paula
AU - Federman, Alex D.
AU - Wisnivesky, Juan P.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This study was funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U01OH010405).
Funding Information:
This study was supported by CDC/NIOSH grant U01OH010405. Data were provided by the General Responder Data Center at Mount Sinai (CDC/NIOSH contract 200-2017-93325). Rojano was supported by a Research Fellowship from the Fundación Alfonso Martín Escudero.
Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: This study was supported by CDC/NIOSH grant U01OH010405. Data were provided by the General Responder Data Center at Mount Sinai (CDC/NIOSH contract 200-2017-93325). Rojano was supported by a Research Fellowship from the Fundación Alfonso Martín Escudero.
Funding Information:
Conflicts of Interest: Wisnivesky has received a consultant honorarium from Merck, Astra Zeneca, and Quintiles, and research grants from Sanofi and Quorum. Busse received a grant and honorarium from Shire and honorarium from Behring, Pharming, Pearl Therapeutics, Biocryst, CVS Health, and GSK. The other authors have no conflict of interest to report.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2019/3/1
Y1 - 2019/3/1
N2 - A large number of World Trade Center (WTC) rescue and recovery workers are affected by asthma. While physical and mental health comorbidities have been associated with poor asthma control in this population, the potential role of allergen sensitization is unknown. This study examined the association of indoor sensitization and exposure as a risk factor for increased asthma morbidity in WTC workers. We used data from a prospective cohort of 331 WTC workers with asthma. Sensitization to indoor allergens was assessed by measurement of antigen-specific serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels. We used validated tools to evaluate the exposure to indoor allergens. Asthma morbidity outcomes included level of control (Asthma Control Questionnaire, ACQ), quality of life (Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire, AQLQ) and acute resource utilization. The prevalence of sensitization to cat, dog, mouse, dust mite, cockroach, and mold allergens were 33%, 21%, 17%, 40%, 17%, and 17%, respectively. Unadjusted and regression analyses showed no significant relationship between sensitization and increased asthma morbidity (p > 0.05 for all comparisons), except for sensitization to Aspergillus Fumigatus, cat and mouse epithelium, which were associated with decreased morbidity.
AB - A large number of World Trade Center (WTC) rescue and recovery workers are affected by asthma. While physical and mental health comorbidities have been associated with poor asthma control in this population, the potential role of allergen sensitization is unknown. This study examined the association of indoor sensitization and exposure as a risk factor for increased asthma morbidity in WTC workers. We used data from a prospective cohort of 331 WTC workers with asthma. Sensitization to indoor allergens was assessed by measurement of antigen-specific serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels. We used validated tools to evaluate the exposure to indoor allergens. Asthma morbidity outcomes included level of control (Asthma Control Questionnaire, ACQ), quality of life (Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire, AQLQ) and acute resource utilization. The prevalence of sensitization to cat, dog, mouse, dust mite, cockroach, and mold allergens were 33%, 21%, 17%, 40%, 17%, and 17%, respectively. Unadjusted and regression analyses showed no significant relationship between sensitization and increased asthma morbidity (p > 0.05 for all comparisons), except for sensitization to Aspergillus Fumigatus, cat and mouse epithelium, which were associated with decreased morbidity.
KW - Allergen exposure
KW - Asthma control
KW - Asthma morbidity
KW - Asthma outcomes
KW - Asthma quality of life
KW - Immunoglobulin E
KW - Indoor allergens sensitization
KW - Mini asthma quality of life questionnaire
KW - WTC-related asthma
KW - World trade center
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85063369015&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph16050737
DO - 10.3390/ijerph16050737
M3 - Article
C2 - 30823641
AN - SCOPUS:85063369015
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 16
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 5
M1 - 737
ER -