Distribution of asthma by occupation: Washington State Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Data, 2006–2009

Figures & data

Table 1. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and BRFSS Asthma Call-Back Survey questions used in analysis.

Question used in this study	Questions from BRFSS/ACBS verbatim
BRFSS and ACBS
Lifetime asthma	“Have you ever been told by a doctor, nurse, or other health professional that you have asthma?”
Current asthma	“Do you still have asthma?”
ACBS
Asthma symptoms caused or worsened by any current or past job^a	“Was your asthma CAUSED by chemicals, smoke, fumes or dust in your CURRENT job?”
	“Is your asthma MADE WORSE by chemicals, smoke, fumes or dust in your CURRENT job?”
	“Was your asthma CAUSED by chemicals, smoke, fumes or dust in any PREVIOUS job you ever had?”
	“Was your asthma MADE WORSE by chemicals, smoke, fumes or dust in any PREVIOUS job you ever had?”
Ever discussed asthma being work related with a health care professional	“Were you ever told by a doctor or other medical person that your asthma was related to any job you ever had?”
	“Did you ever tell a doctor or other medical person that your asthma was related to any job you ever had?”
Ever change or quit job because of work exposure(s)	“Did you ever change or quit a job because chemicals, smoke, fumes, or dust caused your asthma or made your asthma worse?”
Miss work or usual activities due to asthma^b	“During the past 12 months, how many days were you unable to work or carry out your usual activities because of your asthma?”

^aIndicates WRA.

^bResponse was in number of days (0–365).

Table 2. Definition of occupational groups used in analysis.

Occupational groups (19) (SOIC – 1990 US Census Code)	Example occupational titles in group:	Example verbatim response^a
Executive, administrative and managerial (003–022)^b	Legislators; Chief executives and general administrators, public administration	“City administrator”
Management related (023–037)	Personnel, training and labor relations specialists; Purchasing managers	“Management analyst”
Engineers, architects and surveyors (043–063)	Aerospace engineers; Civil engineers; Marine and naval architects	“Mechanical engineer”
Mathematical, computer, natural, social scientists; urban planners (064–083, 166–173)	Actuaries; Statisticians; Chemists	“Coastal ecologist”
Health assessment, diagnosis and treatment professionals (084–089, 095–106)	Physicians; Registered nurses; Optometrists; Respiratory therapists	“ER doctor”
Teachers, all levels; and counselors (113–163)	History teachers; Teachers, special education; Counselors, educational and vocational	“Teacher 2nd grade”
Other professionals (164–165, 174–177, 183–199)	Librarians; Archivists; Social workers; Clergy; Writers; Artists; Athletes	“Technical writer”
Lawyers and judges; protective services (178–179, 413–427)	Lawyers; Police officers; Firefighters	“Juvenile justice specialist”
Technical and related support (203–235)	Air Traffic Controllers; Computer programmers; Electrical and electronic technicians	“Communications technician”
Sales (243–285)	Real estate sales; Sales workers, apparel; Cashiers	“Retail sales clerk”
Administrative support, including clerical (303–389)	Secretaries; File clerks; Information clerks, not elsewhere classified	“Receptionist”
Food preparation and services (433–444)	Bartenders; Waiters and Waitresses; Kitchen workers, food preparation	“Asst cook”
Other health services (445–447)	Health aides, except nursing; Nursing aides, orderlies and attendants	“Home health”
Cleaning and building services, private household; personal services (403–407, 448–469)	Janitors and cleaners; Hairdressers and cosmetologists; Family child care providers	“Cleaning lady”
Farming, forestry, and fishing (473–499)	Horticultural specialty farmers; Timber cutting and logging occupations; Hunters and trappers	“Farm worker”
Mechanics and repairers, precision production; Plant and system operators (503–549, 628–699)	Automobile body and related repairers; Engravers, metal; Machinists; Power plant operators	“Automotive technician”
Construction and Extraction (553–599, 613–617)	Carpenters; Electricians; Mining machine operators	“Journeyman plumber”
Machine operators, assemblers and inspectors, handlers, equipment cleaner, helpers and laborers (703–799, 864–899)	Drilling and boring machine operators; Printing press operators; Vehicle washers and equipment cleaners	“Pressman”
Transportation and material moving; Truck Drivers (803–804, 806–859)	Bus drivers; Truck drivers; Sailors and deckhands; Grader, dozer and scraper operators	“Truck driver”

^aVerbatim responses taken from coded ACBS respondents 2006–2009.

^bUsed as the reference group.

Table 3. Prevalence of lifetime and current asthma in WA BRFSS and ACBS, 2006–2009.

		BRFSS					ACBS^b
		Lifetime asthma		Current asthma		% Current/lifetime	Lifetime asthma	Current asthma	% Current/lifetime
BRFSS respondents, n		No.	% (95% CI)a	No.	% (95% CI)^a	(95% CI)	No.	No.	(95% CI)
All	92 467	13 701	14.8 (14.4–15.1)	9050	9.0 (8.7–9.3)	61.2 (59.9–62.5)	6099	4035	63.4 (60.9–65.8)
Employed	46 442	6401	13.9 (13.5–14.4)	3928	8.1 (7.7–8.4)	58.1 (56.4–59.9)	2660	1682	60.3 (56.8–63.7)
Employed with coded industry/occupation	41 935	5833	14.0 (13.6–14.5)	3582	8.1 (7.8–8.5)	57.9 (56.1–59.7)	2511	1531	60.6 (57.0–64.2)

^aData weighted to account for BRFSS survey sampling.

^bACBS sample is a subset of the BRFSS sample, all have lifetime asthma (ever been told by a HCP that you had asthma), and agreed to participate in the ACBS.

Table 4. Prevalence of current asthma by occupational group in WA BRFSS, 2006–2009.

		Current asthma^a			Prevalence Ratio (PR) Current asthma
Occupational groups (19)	#	n	Percent	95% CI	PR	95% CI
Other health services	1302	162	11.17	8.95–13.40	1.52	1.21–1.92
Administrative support, including clerical	4731	497	10.69	9.41–11.97	1.45	1.23–1.72
Teachers, all levels and counselors	3860	377	9.64	8.39–10.89	1.31	1.10–1.56
Food preparation and services	1142	120	9.28	6.82–11.75	1.26	0.94–1.69
Cleaning and building services, private household; personal services	1848	159	8.80	6.89–10.71	1.18	0.94–1.53
Management related	2469	216	8.64	7.18–10.10	1.17	0.95–1.45
Mathematical, computer, natural, social scientists; urban planners	1071	80	8.64	6.14–11.14	1.17	0.86–1.61
Health assessment, diagnosis and treatment professionals	2300	221	8.45	7.02–9.88	1.15	0.93–1.41
Sales	3613	316	8.39	7.13–9.65	1.14	0.94–1.38
Technical and related support	2544	239	8.34	6.95–9.73	1.13	0.92–1.39
Executive, administrative and managerial^b	5546	448	7.35	6.47–8.23	1.00	–
Lawyers and judges; protective services	1050	83	7.04	5.04–9.03	0.96	0.70–1.39
Engineers, architects and surveyors	1233	78	7.03	5.16–8.89	0.96	0.71–1.28
Other professionals	1643	130	7.02	5.36–8.68	0.95	0.73–1.24
Mechanics and repairers, precision production; Plant and system operators	1758	106	6.39	4.87–7.92	0.87	0.66–1.14
Machine operators, assemblers and inspectors, handlers, equipment cleaner, helpers and laborers	1688	97	6.33	4.45–8.22	0.86	0.62–1.19
Construction and Extraction	1334	69	5.33	3.60–7.06	0.81	0.55–1.18
Transportation and material moving; Truck Drivers	1248	87	5.81	4.18–7.433	0.79	0.58–1.07
Farming, forestry and fishing	1555	95	4.88	3.43–6.34	0.66	0.48–0.92
All	41 935	3580	8.11	7.75–8.48	–	–

^aData weighted to account for BRFSS survey sampling.

^bReference group for prevalence ratio calculation.

Bold font identifies significance at p < 0.05.

Table 5. Work-related exposures, awareness and impact, WA BRFSS ACBS 2006–2009.

	Yes	Weighted frequency^a,b	% (95% CI)
Asthma symptoms caused or worsened by any current or past job (n = 1421)	930	459 310	55.1 (50.4–59.9)
Ever discussed asthma being work related with a health care professional (n = 1673)	271	119 141	10.7 (8.7–12.8)
Ever changed or quit job because chemicals, smoke, fumes or dust caused or worsened asthma (n = 444)	145	68 494	28.7 (20.4–37.0)
Missed ≥1 d of work and/or couldn’t do usual activities due to asthma, in past 12 months (n = 1285)	365	180 227	22.6 (18.7–26.5)

^aData weighted to account for BRFSS survey sampling.

^bACBS sample is a subset of the BRFSS sample, all have lifetime asthma (ever been told by a HCP that you had asthma), and agreed to participate in the ACBS.

Figure 1. Differences in prevalence of asthma symptoms caused or worsened by any current or past job, by 19 occupational groups, WA BRFSS ACBS 2006–2009 (N = 1421).