Biopersistent granular dust and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

<h4>Objective</h4>Applying a systematic review to identify studies eligible for meta-analysis of the association between occupational exposure to inorganic dust and the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and conducting a meta-analysis.<h4>Data sources</...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Irene Brüske, Elisabeth Thiering, Joachim Heinrich, Katharina Huster, Dennis Nowak
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0080977
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Summary:<h4>Objective</h4>Applying a systematic review to identify studies eligible for meta-analysis of the association between occupational exposure to inorganic dust and the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and conducting a meta-analysis.<h4>Data sources</h4>Searches of PubMed and Embase for the time period 1970-2010 yielded 257 cross-sectional and longitudinal studies on people exposed to inorganic dust at the workplace with data on lung function. These studies were independently abstracted and evaluated by two authors; any disagreement was resolved by a third reviewer. Of 55 publications accepted for meta-analysis, 27 investigated the effects of occupational exposure to biopersistent granular dust (bg-dust).<h4>Methods</h4>A random effects meta-analysis allowed us to provide an estimate of the average exposure effect on spirometric parameters presented in forest plots. Between-study heterogeneity was assessed by using I(2) statistics, with I(2)>25% indicating significant heterogeneity. Publication bias was investigated by visual inspection of funnel plots. The influence of individual studies was assessed by dropping the respective study before pooling study-specific estimates.<h4>Results</h4>The mean FEV1 of workers exposed to bg-dust was 160 ml lower or 5.7% less than predicted compared to workers with no/low exposure. The risk of an obstructive airway disease--defined as FEV1/FVC < 70%--increased by 7% per 1 mg · m(-3) respirable bg-dust.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Occupational inhalative exposure to bg-dust was associated with a statistically significant decreased FEV1 and FEV1/FVC revealing airway obstruction consistent with COPD.
ISSN:1932-6203