Section of Sustainable Health, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, 90187, Umeå, Sweden.
Section of Medicine, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, 90187, Umeå, Sweden.
Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2021 Nov;94(8):1945-1952. doi: 10.1007/s00420-021-01694-y. Epub 2021 Apr 17.
To determine if exposure to cold environments, during work or leisure time, was associated with increased reporting of airway symptoms in the general population of northern Sweden.
Through a population-based postal survey responded to by 12627 subjects, ages 18-70, living in northern Sweden, the occurrence of airway symptoms was investigated. Cold exposure during work or leisure time was self-reported on numerical rating scales. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the statistical association between cold exposure and airway symptoms.
For currently working subjects (N = 8740), reporting any occupational cold exposure was associated to wheeze (OR 1.3; 95% CI 1.1-1.4); chronic cough (OR 1.2; 95% CI 1.1-1.4); and productive cough (OR 1.3; 95% CI 1.1-1.4), after adjusting for gender, age, body mass index, daily smoking, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Leisure-time cold exposure was not significantly associated to reporting airway symptoms.
Occupational cold exposure was an independent predictor of airway symptoms in northern Sweden. Therefore, a structured risk assessment regarding cold exposure could be considered for inclusion in the Swedish workplace legislation.
确定在工作或休闲时间暴露于寒冷环境中是否与瑞典北部普通人群气道症状的报告增加有关。
通过对居住在瑞典北部的 12627 名 18-70 岁的受试者进行基于人群的邮寄调查，调查了气道症状的发生情况。工作或休闲时间的寒冷暴露情况通过数字评分量表进行自我报告。采用二元逻辑回归确定寒冷暴露与气道症状之间的统计学关联。
对于目前工作的受试者（N=8740），报告任何职业性寒冷暴露与喘息（OR 1.3；95%CI 1.1-1.4）；慢性咳嗽（OR 1.2；95%CI 1.1-1.4）；和有痰咳嗽（OR 1.3；95%CI 1.1-1.4）有关，调整性别、年龄、体重指数、每日吸烟、哮喘和慢性阻塞性肺疾病后。休闲时间的寒冷暴露与报告的气道症状无显著相关性。
职业性寒冷暴露是瑞典北部气道症状的独立预测因素。因此，在瑞典工作场所法规中可以考虑纳入针对寒冷暴露的结构化风险评估。
