Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34282040›Full record

ArticleOccupational and environmental medicine2021

Occupation and subcategories of asthma: a population-based incident case-control study.

Maritta S Jaakkola, Taina K Lajunen, Behzad Heibati, Ying-Chuan Wang, Ching-Huang Lai, Jouni J K Jaakkola

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Occupational and environmental medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
1.8field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Welding Fumes and SARS-CoV-2: A Dangerous Combination.Journal of occupational and environmental medicine · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Occupational Respiratory Allergy to Flour in the Modern Era.Current allergy and asthma reports · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. The value of fractional exhaled nitric oxide in occupational diseases - a systematic review.Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England) · 2022
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Maritta S JaakkolaCenter for Environmental and Respiratory Health Research, Oulun yliopisto, Oulu, Finland maritta.jaakkola@oulu.fi.ORCID 0000-0003-1373-7784
Taina K LajunenCenter for Environmental and Respiratory Health Research, Oulun yliopisto, Oulu, Finland.
Behzad HeibatiCenter for Environmental and Respiratory Health Research, Oulun yliopisto, Oulu, Finland.
Ying-Chuan WangDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.ORCID 0000-0002-4992-1252
Ching-Huang LaiSchool of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.
Jouni J K JaakkolaCenter for Environmental and Respiratory Health Research, Oulun yliopisto, Oulu, Finland.ORCID 0000-0003-4168-4683
University of Oulu · FIFinnish Meteorological Institute · FINational Defense Medical Center · TWOulu University of Applied Sciences · FITri-Service General Hospital · TW

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWe hypothesised that occupational exposures differently affect subtypes of adult-onset asthma.

objectiveWe investigated potential relations between occupation and three subtypes of adult asthma, namely atopic asthma, non-atopic asthma and asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS).

methodsThis is a population-based case-control study of incident asthma among working-age adults living in Pirkanmaa Hospital District in Southern Finland. The determinant of interest was occupation at the time of diagnosis of asthma or the job that the subject had quit due to respiratory symptoms. Asthma was divided into three mutually exclusive subtypes on the basis of any positive IgE antibody (atopic and non-atopic asthma) and presence of persistent airways obstruction in spirometry (ACOS). We applied unconditional logistic regression analysis to estimate adjusted OR (aOR), taking into account gender, age and smoking.

resultsThe following occupational groups showed significantly increased risk of atopic asthma: chemical industry workers (aOR 15.76, 95% CI 2.64 to 94.12), bakers and food processors (aOR 4.69, 95% CI 1.18 to 18.69), waiters (aOR 4.67, 95% CI 1.40 to 15.56) and those unemployed (aOR 3.06, 95% CI 1.52 to 6.17). The following occupations showed clearly increased risk of non-atopic asthma: metal workers (aOR 8.37, 95% CI 3.77 to 18.59) and farmers and other agricultural workers (aOR 2.36, 95% CI 1.10 to 5.06). Some occupational groups showed statistically significantly increased OR of ACOS: electrical and electronic production workers (aOR 30.6, 95% CI 6.10 to 153.35), fur and leather workers (aOR 16.41, 95% CI 1.25 to 215.85) and those retired (aOR 5.55, 95% CI 1.63 to 18.97).

conclusionsOur results show that different occupations are associated with different subtypes of adult-onset asthma.

Indexed as

AdultAge FactorsAsthma-Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Overlap SyndromeAsthma, OccupationalCase-Control StudiesChemical IndustryFarmersFemaleFinlandFood IndustryHumansMaleMiddle AgedRestaurantsRisk FactorsSex Factorsclinical medicineepidemiologyoccupational health practicepublic healthrespiratory

Identifiers

PMID34282040
PMCPMC8380874
OpenAlexW3184386887

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

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.