Observational studyPloS one2020
Prevalence of respiratory symptoms and spirometric changes among non-smoker male wood workers.
Observational study in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effect of occupational exposure to organic dust on lung function parameters among African industrial workers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- What do the clinical and respiratory functional assessments of woodworkers in Parakou, West Africa, reveal?Multidisciplinary respiratory medicine · 2025Article
- Assessment of pulmonary function among woodworkers exposed to mixed tropical hardwood dust in Kumasi, Ghana.African health sciences · 2025Article
- Work-related airways disease and risk factors in Mozambiquan wood processing workers.Occupational medicine (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a large cohort of Ontario, Canada workers.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Hearing loss and respiratory health symptoms among large-scale sawmill workers of the timber processing factories within the Gert Sibande District Municipality: a comparative cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Prevalence of obstructive lung patterns and actual spirometric result at different workplaces in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Health science reports · 2023Article
- Dynamics of pre-shift and post-shift lung function parameters among wood workers in Ghana.Annals of occupational and environmental medicine · 2023Article
- The impact of wood dust on pulmonary function and blood immunoglobulin E, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C- reactive protein: A cross-sectional study among sawmill workers in Tangail, Bangladesh.Health science reports · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess the effects of workplace exposure to hardwood dust on lung function and determine a prevalence of respiratory symptoms among wood workers. STUDY
designCross-sectional observational study.
settingTertiary referral center. SUBJECTS AND
methodsTwo hundred seventy-six, non-smoker male wood workers and equal number of non-smoker male office workers, referred to pulmonology clinic included in this study. Evaluation of study participants included completion of a questionnaire regarding respiratory symptoms and baseline spirometry was measured according to the actual recommendations.
resultsRespiratory symptoms including cough, phlegm, chest tightness, and wheezing were significantly higher in wood workers than office workers (40.2% versus 29.3% for cough, p = 0.0073; 40.6% versus 23.6% for phlegm, p<0.0001; 38.0% versus 23.1% for chest tightness, p = 0.0001; 25.3% versus 14.5% for wheezing, p = 0.0014). No statistically significant differences were observed for Dyspnea, and upper respiratory tract symptoms among wood workers compared to office workers. While wood workers were more likely to require spirometry test than office workers (21.4% versus 5.4%, p<0.001) the obstructive changes were more prevalent on spirometry test in wood workers (71.4% obstructive pattern versus 28.6% restrictive pattern). Spirometry test revealed the mean values of FEV1 and FEV1/FVC ratio were significantly lower in the wood workers, compared to their mean values in the control group.
conclusionRespiratory symptoms associated with work, are more prevalent among wood workers than office workers. Our data revealed that workplace exposure to hardwood dust may compromise respiratory function, indicating the importance and the need for optimizing preventive measures in workplace to protect the respiratory health among exposed workers. Obstructive changes on pulmonary function test is a dominant pathologic pattern in pulmonary function test among wood workers. Further investigation is required by current available tools such as nasal cytology to detect influence of wood dust exposure on the upper respiratory airway.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.