Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kahan, E.
Right arrow Articles by Tamir, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kahan, E.
Right arrow Articles by Tamir, R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Occupational Medicine 1997;47:273-276
© 1997 Society of Occupational Medicine

research-article

The impact of Hymenoptera venom allergy on occupational activities

E. Kahan*,{dagger},$$$,, R. Ben-Moshe{dagger}, E. Derazne* and R. Tamir{dagger},{ddagger}

* Department of Epidemiology and Statistics, The Institute for Occupational Health, Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv, Israel
{dagger} Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv, Israel
{ddagger} Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy Belinson Campus, Petah Tiqva, Israel
$$$ Department of Family Medicine, Rabin Medical Center Belinson Campus, Petah Tiqva, Israel

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of allergy to hymenoptera venom on the occupational activities of patients undergoing immunologic treatment for insect sting anaphylaxis. The design was a cross-sectional study conducted in a sample of 500 out of 1,500 patients undergoing venom inmunotherapy for insect sting reaction in 13 allergy clinics in Israel. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data about demographic characteristics of patients, severity of the allergic reaction, and adverse effects on occupational activities. Of the 204 respondents who were part of the labour force, 48.5% reported adverse effects on routine occupational activities. The factors with a significant influence on the probability of adverse occupational effects were: (1) patient's type of work (blue collar vs. white collar: OR=;3.22, p<0.001; army vs. white collar: OR=5.28, p=0.001); (2) severity of the allergic reaction (severe reaction vs. mild/moderate reaction: OR=2.34, p=0.007). Our findings suggest that severe insect sting allergy has an adverse impact on patients' occupational activities. This factor requires special attention by the medical community. Social workers and occupational physicians should collaborate in the assessment and management of these patients.

Keywords      Allergy; anaphylaxis; Hymenoptera

Received       15 July 1996
Accepted       24 February 1997

Correspondence and reprint requests to: E. Kahan, Department of Epidemiology and Statistics, The Institute for Occupational Health, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. Tel: (+972) 3 6425261; Fax: (+972) 3 6422270


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.