Imperial College London
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MrsSusieSchofield

Faculty of Medicine, National Heart & Lung Institute

Medical Statistician
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 7964s.schofield

 
 
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Location

 

G51Emmanuel Kaye BuildingRoyal Brompton Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Kabir:2022:occmed/kqab162,
author = {Kabir, T and Schofield, S and Fitzgerald, B and Cannon, J and Szram, J and Feary, J},
doi = {occmed/kqab162},
journal = {Occupational Medicine},
pages = {118--124},
title = {Assessment and outcomes of firefighter applicants with possible asthma.},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqab162},
volume = {72},
year = {2022}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - BACKGROUND: Firefighter applicants (FFAs) with a history of asthma may be refused entry to the fire service because of potentially putting themselves and others at risk. AIMS: We undertook a service evaluation to identify respiratory and employment outcomes of FFAs with a history of asthma who had undergone additional respiratory assessment at our specialist occupational lung disease clinic during 2005-19. METHODS: We reviewed FFA medical records and categorized them as having either no current asthma or definite/probable asthma at the time of clinic assessment. 'No current asthma' was defined as negative non-specific bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR) to histamine/methacholine, and no symptoms or treatment within the 2 years before clinic. 'Definite/probable current asthma' was defined as either positive BHR, or negative BHR with symptoms and/or treatment within the previous 2 years. Around 1 year later, we contacted FFAs to enquire about their application outcome and current respiratory symptoms. RESULTS: Data were available on 116 applicants; of whom, 45% (n = 52) had definite/probable current asthma and were significantly more likely to be older, atopic to common aeroallergens, report atopic disease and have a lower forced expiratory volume in one second/forced vital capacity ratio compared with applicants with no current asthma. Only two individuals' applications were rejected due to asthma. At follow-up, just 2 (2%) of the 90 operational firefighters reported any recent trouble with asthma. CONCLUSIONS: A history of asthma alone is not sufficient to determine current asthma in FFAs. Even with a diagnosis of current asthma, FFAs are mostly successful in their application to join the fire service.
AU  - Kabir,T
AU  - Schofield,S
AU  - Fitzgerald,B
AU  - Cannon,J
AU  - Szram,J
AU  - Feary,J
DO  - occmed/kqab162
EP  - 124
PY  - 2022///
SN  - 0962-7480
SP  - 118
TI  - Assessment and outcomes of firefighter applicants with possible asthma.
T2  - Occupational Medicine
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqab162
UR  - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34919722
UR  - https://academic.oup.com/occmed/advance-article/doi/10.1093/occmed/kqab162/6468659?login=true
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/93949
VL  - 72
ER  -
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