Occurrence of asthma and chronic bronchitis among female hairdressers : a questionnaire survey
Leino, Timo ; Tammilehto, Lauri ; Paakkulainen, Harri T. ; Orjala, Hannele ; Nordman, Henrik
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
1997
39
6
534-547
allergic asthma ; chronic bronchitis ; epidemiologic study ; hair preparations ; hairdresser ; questionnaire survey ; respiratory diseases
Occupational diseases
English
In a questionnaire survey of 3484 hairdressers and a reference group of 3357 shop personnel in Finland, the prevalence of asthma among the hairdressers was 5.6% in 1980 and 10.1% in 1995; the prevalence of chronic bronchitis was 3.9% in 1980 and 5.6% in 1995. The relative risk for developing asthma and chronic bronchitis among hairdressers was almost twice that of the reference group in 1980, and remained similar in 1995. Hairdressers are at a higher risk of developing asthma as a result of occupational exposure.
Paper
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