Table 2.

Risk factors for non–work-related and sensitizer-induced occupational asthma^*

Non-WRA	Sensitizer-induced OA
Host Risk Factors
Younger age	Younger age
Female	Female (likely from sex distribution of higher risk exposures)
Family history of allergy/asthma	Family history of allergy/asthma
Atopy	Atopy (for high-molecular-weight agents)
Obesity	Obesity
Current/previous history of rhinitis or allergy	Current/previous history of work-related rhinitis
Previous bronchial hyperresponsiveness	Previous bronchial hyperresponsiveness
Some serious childhood respiratory diseases (e.g., cystic fibrosis)
Behavioral and Social Factors
Active and passive smoking	Active smoking
Low household income	Low household income likely from association with greater risk of exposure at work to sensitizers
Environmental Risk Factors
Home environmental factors (e.g., fuel combustion, dampness and mold growth, environmental tobacco smoke)	High-molecular-weight or low-molecular-weight sensitizing agents at work
Exposure to cleaning sprays at home	Cleaning/disinfectant agents at work (likely several mechanisms)
Air pollution

Definition of abbreviations: OA = occupational asthma; WRA = work-related asthma.

Similarities are printed in bold. Features that differ or have only been only evaluated for one condition are not bold.

^*Risk factors for irritant-induced asthma are not included here because they have not been sufficiently identified due to most case series being relatively small. Table reproduced and modified with permission from Reference 17.