Respiratory diseases and pesticide exposure: a case-control study in Lebanon
- 1Lebanese University, Lebanon
- 2Balamand University, Lebanon
- 3ISPED, Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2 University, France
- Correspondence to: Dr P Salameh Jdeidet El Meten, Chalet Suisse Street, Ramza Azzam bldg, 5th floor, Beirut, Lebanon; pascalesalameh{at}yahoo.com
- Accepted 5 November 2005
Abstract
Study objective: To evaluate the odds of being exposed to pesticides in asthmatic adults.
Design: A case-control study was performed in Lebanon.
Setting: People were approached when consulting physicians as outpatients.
Patients: Asthmatic patients and non-asthmatic controls in several Lebanese hospitals were interviewed.
Main results: The study included 407 subjects from 10 medical centres. Any exposure to pesticides was associated to asthma (OR = 2.11 (1.47 to 3.02); p<10−4). Occupational use presented the highest association (OR = 4.98 (1.07 to 23.28); p = 0.02), followed by regional exposure (OR 3.51 (2.11 to 5.85); p<10−4). Results were confirmed by multivariate analysis, particularly for regional exposure (ORa = 2.78; p = 0.02) and house exposure (ORa = 2.17; p = 0.001).
Conclusions: Results are comparable to those found in other studies; especially for occupational exposure. Pesticides toxicological effects may explain chronic respiratory symptoms and asthma associations found with all exposure types. Pesticide exposure was associated with asthma in Lebanese adults.
Footnotes
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Funding: Lebanese National Centre of Scientific Research; grant number: 3750/o
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Conflicts of interest: none.
