Choosing a manual occupation: teenagers do not take into account the risks to their health

Teenagers do not take into account the risks to their health in the choice of a manual occupation, reveals published in the European Respiratory Journal and having covered nearly 3,000 young German study.

Health and work do not always mix

While some manual occupations are not recommended for people who suffer from asthma, including occupation baker, florist, bodybuilder, barber or woodworker, it appears that adolescents about choosing a career does not take these recommendations.

It is revealed that a German study published in the European Respiratory Journal (European Respiratory Journal, ERJ) April. Young asthmatics are thus exposed to a dangerous worsening of their disease, as well as regrettable professional failures, and according to the authors.

In 1995 and 1996, a scientific team in Munich, Dresden and Ulm (Germany) solicited children 9 to 11 years old living Munich and Dresden to participate in a major international study of asthma and allergies (Phase II study ISAAC). Seven years later, the same people were interviewed again in order to see if there are manifestations of asthma or allergic nature had had any influence on the choice of their future profession.

"Very few data are available on this subject," says first author of the article, Katja Radon Epidemiology Unit of the Institute of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich.

"Attempts selection before hiring had been attempted in individuals a priori unaffected by the disease, on the basis of allergy tests, but this initiative has proved quite ineffective, regardless of the ethical issues. So we wanted to check if it was possible to exploit the fact that subjects with asthma or allergies know to avoid their career choices they may regret later, "she says.

When these children become adolescents, aged 16 to 18 years, nearly 5,000 of them have been located and a new questionnaire was sent to them by post.

The response rate of 77% has to retain a total of 3785 questionnaires, including 2165, or 57%, contained information about the profession to which adolescents involved wanted to earmark.

The results that lead to this point Katja Radon and colleagues reveal somewhat disturbing. Because by comparing the preferences indicated by each teenager on his future career with his personal medical data collected as part of the international study of asthma and allergies, German researchers found that the existence of retained asthma way these young people to choose a profession that could increase their risk. They have, indeed, found no difference in the indications for the choice of profession, as the teenager was asthmatic or not.

Surprising results

Nearly 38% of these 2,165 teenagers who indicated a preference for a particular job had already embarked on a career or fulfilling directly learning "on the job" or following a vocational school, since these are the two great options in use in Germany.

This is especially the second group, consisting of 504 young people that chose to focus German researchers, especially because these teenagers there, while having made their choice, they were not actually exposed to the risks their future profession.

"We selected them, says Katja Radon, to be quite certain that they have not yet been exposed to allergens that they would meet later, which could trigger symptoms and thus influence their answers."

Preferred professions mentioned by these 504 youth were classified into three categories, according to their specific risk associated with allergenic substances. Meanwhile, adolescents were also classified into three groups according to whether they had ever been diagnosed with asthma or allergies, the latest manifestations of such disorders were over a year, or they have suffered recently.

By combining these data sets, the authors arrive at conclusions even more surprising. Because while 8% of these adolescents were known asthmatics (albeit without recent events), only 6% had submitted expressions of asthma in the last twelve months and 26% and 20% had suffered or suffering from rhinitis or allergic dermatitis, only 8% with symptoms reported that their choice of a future profession was influenced by their health!

Misinformation

The authors of the article are obviously wondering what could explain irrational behavior. One reason they move is part of a medico known fact, that the potential influence of chronic diseases, including childhood asthma, the level of education.

"It has been shown, they write, that because of their chronic disease, asthma or children suffering from atopic dermatitis did not reach a level of education as high as their intellectual abilities could hope to do. As a result, the range of occupations available to asthma proves limited not only by the risk of exposure, but also by the level of education. This is one of the reasons why adolescents with asthma or dermatitis atopic do not take into account any adverse effects to their health when choosing their profession, "they add.

"Young people with asthma should receive better information about the risks that could pose some careers for their health so that they can make a more informed choice," the German researchers conclude.

Finally, one can wonder whether these results reflect only the situation in Germany or they may apply to other countries. There is no doubt in Katja Radon: "It is highly probable that the situation highlighted in this study is the same in most Western countries because one of the reasons why asthmatics ignore. the risk of exacerbation of asthma when choosing a profession probably was the lack of adequate information, from both physicians guidance "counselors.