Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hairdressers are exposed to various irritating chemicals during work.
OBJECTIVE: This study was designed as a case-control study to evaluate the risk of developing obstructive lung disease in relation to occupational exposures in hairdressers.
METHODS: We interviewed a cohort of 50 female hairdressers and 50 matched controls recruited from a random sample of the general population, using a validated questionnaire for occupational respiratory disease, to compare the prevalence of work-initiated and work-related respiratory symptoms in both groups. We also performed pulmonary function tests (PFTs) in all participants.
RESULTS: Almost half of the hairdressers reported work-initiated respiratory symptoms. Cough (33%) and breathlessness (29%) were the most common self-reported symptoms after chemical exposures. All respiratory symptoms (cough, breathless, wheezing, and phlegm) were significantly higher in the hairdressers than in the control group (P < .001). The hairdressers reported that bleaching powder and hair spray were the most irritant chemicals that provoke their respiratory symptoms. The impaired PFT values (forced vital capacity, FEV1, maximum mid-expiratory flow, peak expiratory flow) in the hairdressers, compared to the matched controls, were in line with the questionnaire data.
CONCLUSIONS: Hairdressing work is associated with a high frequency of work-initiated respiratory symptoms and, to a lesser extent, with allergic symptoms, particularly after exposure to bleaching powder and hair spray. PFT values were significantly lower among the hairdressers, which might be a predictor for developing obstructive lung disease.
- occupational exposure
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- COPD
- occupational asthma
- occupational lung disease
- pulmonary function test
- PFT
Footnotes
- Correspondence: Mohammad Hossein Boskabady MD PhD, Department of Physiology, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran, 177948564. E-mail: boskabadymh{at}mums.ac.ir.
Dr Boskabady presented a version of this paper at the 54th International Respiratory Congress of the American Association for Respiratory Care, held December 13-16, 2008, in Anaheim, California.
The authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest.
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