Asthma is the most frequent respiratory chronic disorder in working adults. Although often unrecognized, occupational factors may account for one of six cases of adult asthma. As reviewed in the chapter I, work-related asthma refers to either occupational asthma (OA) (either sensitizer- or irritant-induced) or work-exacerbated asthma (WEA). The purpose of this chapter is to review the management of workers with work-related asthma, using an illustrative case similar to the one listed to illustrate the various steps in the assessment of work-related asthma in chapter 6. All items of this case history (followed by numbering) illustrate specific items that will be covered in the chapter. However, reactive airways dysfunction syndrome and irritant-induced asthma will not be reviewed here as the subject is covered in chapter 21. Several guidelines (1-6) on the management of OA have been published or updated in the recent years, which have outlined various aspects of the management of workers with work-related asthma and will be covered in the form of questions. The management of work-related asthma includes prevention, assessment, treatment, and compensation. This chapter focuses mainly on OA treatment, whereas other topics are covered in other chapters.
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