CRJ Canadian Respiratory Journal 1198-2241 Pulsus Group Inc 109679 10.1155/2003/109679 Original Article Respiratory Symptoms and Lung Function in Poultry Confinement Workers in Western Canada Kirychuk Shelley P kirychuk@sask.usask.ca Senthilselvan Ambikaipakan Dosman James A Juorio Victor Feddes John JR Willson Philip Classen Henry Reynolds Stephen J Guenter Wilhelm Hurst Thomas S 1 Institute of Agricultural Rural and Environmental Health University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada usask.ca 2 Department of Public Health Sciences University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta Canada ualberta.ca 3 Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta Canada ualberta.ca 4 Veterinary Infectious Disease Organization University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada usask.ca 5 Department of Animal and Poultry Science University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada usask.ca 6 Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences Colorado State University Fort Collin, Colorado USA colostate.edu 7 Department of Animal Sciences University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada umanitoba.ca 8 Division of Respiratory Medicine University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada usask.ca 2003 3 10 2003 10 7 375 380 2003 Copyright © 2003 Hindawi Publishing Corporation. This open-access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (CC BY-NC) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits reuse, distribution and reproduction of the article, provided that the original work is properly cited and the reuse is restricted to noncommercial purposes.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether poultry production methods impact respiratory health, and whether poultry farmers have more respiratory symptoms and lower lung function than comparison control groups.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.

SETTING: Provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba during the winters of 1997 to 1999. POPULATION: Three hundred three poultry workers, 241 grain farmers and 206 nonfarming control subjects were studied. Poultry workers were further classified according to the poultry housing type in which they worked, ie, workers who worked with poultry raised on the floor (floor-based operations), which included broiler/roaster, broiler/breeder and turkey operations (n=181), and workers who worked with poultry raised in a caged setting (cage-based operations), which included egg operations (n=122).

INTERVENTIONS: Subjects completed a respiratory health questionnaire, which included questions on the poultry operation and work habits, and participated in lung function testing.

MAIN RESULTS: Overall, this study indicated that poultry workers report greater prevalences of current and chronic respiratory symptoms than control populations, and that the type of production method (cage-based versus floor-based) appears to influence the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and lung function values. Workers from cage-based operations report greater prevalences of current cough and wheeze, as well as lower mean values for forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), forced expiratory flow at 25% to 75% of vital capacity (FEF25-75) and FEV1/FVC than workers from floor-based facilities. Workers from cage-based facilities also reported greater prevalences of current and chronic cough and phlegm, as well as significantly lower FEF25-75 and FEV1/FVC values than nonfarming control subjects. Furthermore, grain farmers had lower FVC and FEV1 values than nonfarmers.

CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the type of poultry production system (ie, floor- versus cage-based) appears to have an effect on the respiratory response of workers from these facilities. Further studies are required to understand the physiological mechanisms of respiratory dysfunction and the relationships concerning workplace exposure among poultry workers.

 Grain farmers Lung function Nonfarmers Poultry workers Respiratory symptoms