The nose-lung interaction in occupational allergic rhinitis and asthma in Tunisian textile industry workers

Abstract

Introduction: The link between upper and lower respiratory tracts has been repeatedly observed in the past 50 years but only carefully investigated during the past decade. Many risk factors and predictors were incriminated in the genesis of united airways disease. Aim: Our objective was to evaluate risk factors and predictors of the association of occupational allergic rhinitis and asthma in textile industry workers. Method: A retrospective study was carried out on all cases of occupational allergic rhinitis among workers in the textile industry declared to The National Health Insurance Fund in the central Tunisian region during the period from 1st January 2008 to 31 December 2012. Those patients were later investigated for occupational asthma. Results: We evaluated a total of 173 workers. An isolated rhinitis was observed in 59 patients counting for 34.10% of cases. The association of rhinitis and asthma was present in 103 patients (59.5% of the cases). Among the 103 patients with the combination of occupational rhinitis and asthma, rhinitis preceded asthma in 99 patients (96.12% of cases) and were concomitant in 4 patients (3.88%). A statistically significant relationship was found between the association of asthma and rhinitis and occupational seniority (p=0.029), occupational qualification (p=0.024), personal atopy (p=0.04) and duration of exposure (p=0.032). Conclusion: The typical profile of our population at risk for the combination of rhinitis and occupational allergic asthma is a low-skilled worker with a long durations of activity and exposure to air pollutants.