Diagnosis of occupational asthma from serial measurements of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV) using the Area Between Curves (ABC) score from the Oasys plotter.

Objectives: To identify the changes in serial 2-hourly forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV) measurements required to identify occupational asthma (OA) using the Oasys Area Between Curves (ABC) score.

Methods: The ABC score from 2-hourly measurements of FEV was compared between workers with confirmed OA and asthmatics without occupational exposure to identify the optimum separation using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis. Separate analyses were made for plots using clock time and time from waking to allow for use in shift workers.

Occupational asthma in a highly industrialized region of UK: report from a local surveillance scheme.

Estimates of the incidence of occupational asthma may be derived from surveillance schemes established in several countries. SHIELD is a voluntary surveillance scheme for occupational asthma in the West Midlands, a highly industrialized region of UK. The aim of this study was to estimate the general and specific incidence of occupational asthma in the West Midlands in 1990-97.