Cleaning products are mixtures of many chemical ingredients that are known to contain sensitizers, disinfectants, and fragrances, as well as strong airway irritants which associated with lower respiratory tract and asthma symptoms. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence and possible risk factors of occupational asthma and its effect on quality of life among workers in detergent and cleaning products industries in El Asher men Ramadan city. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 780 workers. All participants were personally interviewed at their workplaces and were subjected to a questionnaire regarding sociodemographic, work characteristics and asthma symptoms, clinical examination, chest X-ray, spirometer, and bronchodilator test. The prevalence of occupational asthma among the studied workers was 35.4%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that female gender [odds ratio 1.397; 95% CI 1.09-1.96], manually working participants [odds ratio 3.067; 95% CI 1.72-5.46], and history of atopy [odds ratio 1.596; 95% CI 1.09-2.33] were risk factors for development of occupational asthma. The total mean score of asthma-specific quality of life was significantly lower in asthmatic (5.10 ± 0.49) than non-asthmatic workers (5.89 ± 0.46) (P < 0.01) indicating impairment of quality of life among asthmatic group. Workers in detergent and cleaning products industry are at higher risk for developing occupational asthma that adversely affects their general health and quality of life.

Abstract: Managing pediatric asthma includes optimizing both asthma control and asthma-specific quality of life (QoL). However, it is unclear to what extent asthma-specific QoL is related to asthma control or other clinical characteristics over time. The aims of this study were to assess in children longitudinally: (1) the association between asthma control and asthma-specific QoL and (2) the relationship between clinical characteristics and asthma-specific QoL. In a 12-month prospective study, asthma-specific QoL, asthma control, dynamic lung function indices, fractional exhaled nitric oxide, the occurrence of exacerbations, and the use of rescue medication were assessed every 2 months. Associations between the clinical characteristics and asthma-specific QoL were analyzed using linear mixed models. At baseline, the QoL symptom score was worse in children with asthma and concomitant chronic rhinitis compared to asthmatic children without chronic rhinitis. An improvement of asthma control was longitudinally associated with an increase in asthma-specific QoL (p-value < 0.01). An increased use of β2-agonists, the occurrence of wheezing episodes in the year before the study, the occurrence of an asthma exacerbation in the 2 months prior to a clinical visit, and a deterioration of lung function correlated significantly with a decrease in the Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ) total score (p-values ≤ 0.01). Chronic rhinitis did not correlate with changes in the PAQLQ score over 1 year. The conclusion was that asthma control and asthma-specific QoL were longitudinally associated, but were not mutually interchangeable. The presence of chronic rhinitis at baseline did influence QoL symptom scores. β2-agonist use and exacerbations before and during the study were inversely related to the asthma-specific QoL over time.