Biomedical subjects

D M Papes

Publications and source records attributed to D M Papes.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

Weight change and lung function: implications for workplace surveillance studies.

This study evaluated the relationship between weight change and longitudinal measurement of lung function among 361 men providing at least five pulmonary function tests. The men in this study were participants in a workplace pulmonary surveillance program for subjects with exposure to refractory ceramic fibers (RCFs). Occupational and environmental studies are generally designed to evaluate factors suspected of causing excess decline in lung function. Failure to adequately account for all significant factors may lead to erroneous conclusions regarding change in lung function. This study utilized two different statistical models to evaluate longitudinal changes in a cohort of RCF workers. What was unique to this study was the modeling of longitudinally measured initial weight, weight change, and longitudinal exposure before and during the period of observation. Results showed a strong relationship between weight gain and longitudinal loss in lung function that approximated forced vital capacity declines of 16 mL for every kilogram of weight gain per year in both models. This value is comparable or greater in magnitude and significance to other factors known to be inversely related to lung function, such as age and pack-years smoking to time of initial testing. In conclusion, weight gain was found to have a significant impact on longitudinal change in lung function. Therefore, weight gain becomes a very important variable that requires consideration whenever longitudinal studies of pulmonary function are conducted.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

An industry-wide pulmonary study of men and women manufacturing refractory ceramic fibers.

An industry-wide pulmonary morbidity study was undertaken to evaluate the respiratory health of employees manufacturing refractory ceramic fibers at five US sites between 1987 and 1989. Refractory ceramic fibers are man-made vitreous fibers used for high temperature insulation. Of the 753 eligible current employees, 742 provided occupational histories and also completed the American Thoracic Society respiratory symptom questionnaire; 736 also performed pulmonary function tests. Exposure to refractory ceramic fibers was characterized by classifying workers as production or nonproduction employees and calculating the duration of time spent in production employment. The risk of working in the production of refractory ceramic fibers and having one or more respiratory symptoms was estimated by adjusted odds ratios and found to be 2.9 (95 percent confidence interval 1.4-6.2) for men and 2.4 (95 percent confidence interval 1.1-5.3) for women. The effect of exposure to refractory ceramic fibers on forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), the ratio of the two (FEV1/FVC), and forced expiratory flow (liters/second) between 25 percent and 75 percent of the FVC curve (FEF(25-75)) was evaluated by multiple regression analysis using transformed values adjusted for height, by dividing by the square of each individual's height. For men, there was a significant decline in FVC for current and past smokers of 165.4 ml (p < 0.01) and 155.5 ml (p = 0.04), respectively, per 10 years of work in the production of refractory ceramic fibers. For FEV1, the decline was significant (p < 0.01) only for current smokers at 134.9 ml. For women, the decline was greater and significant for FVC among nonsmokers, who showed a decrease of 350.3 ml (p = 0.05) per 10 years of employment in the production of refractory ceramic fibers. These findings indicate that there may be important sex differences in response to occupational and/or environmental exposure.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Longitudinal estimates of pulmonary function in refractory ceramic fiber manufacturing workers.

Refractory ceramic fibers (RCF) are man-made vitreous fibers (MMVF) used in high-temperature industrial applications. Between 1987 and 1994, a prospective study evaluated pulmonary function of 361 male workers currently employed in RCF manufacturing and related operations for plausibility of a causal relationship between RCF exposure and pulmonary function changes. Workers included in the analysis provided at least five pulmonary function tests. The exposure-response relationship was modeled with two exposure variables: years in a production job, and cumulative fiber exposure (fiber-mo/cc). Comparison groups were nonproduction workers and workers with up to 15 fiber-mo/cc cumulative exposure. A statistically significant decrease in FVC was demonstrated among workers employed in production jobs more than 7 yr prior to initial test. A similar but nonstatistically significant result was demonstrated for FVC in workers with greater than 60 fiber-mo/cc cumulative exposure prior to initial pulmonary function test. Similar but nonstatistically significant results were obtained for FEV1. These findings, which primarily reflect workers employed before 1980, did not persist with analysis of follow-up production years and accumulated RCF exposure from initial pulmonary function test. Since longitudinal analyses are sensitive to influences that continue to affect annual decline during the study period, lower RCF exposure levels since the 1980s may be responsible for eliminating any further effect on pulmonary function.

Adult↗