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Occurrence of farmer's lung disease is relevant to meteorological conditions: A 20‐year follow‐up field survey analysis
Author(s) -
Takahashi Toru,
Ohtsuka Yoshinori,
Munakata Mitsuru,
Nasuhara Yasuyuki,
KamachiSatoh Atsuko,
Homma Yukihiko,
Kawakami Yoshikazu
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.10074
Subject(s) - medicine , sunlight , zoology , lung disease , toxicology , farmer's lung , summer season , veterinary medicine , lung , meteorology , biology , physics , astronomy
Background A field survey on farmer's lung disease (FLD) in a dairy farming community in the northernmost district of Japan has been in progress since 1978. Methods The correlation between the number of FLD occurrences year by year and dairy farming conditions and meteorological data were compared. Results Thirty‐four FLD cases had occurred in a 20 years period. Average number of days below freezing during the harvest season the year prior to FLD occurrence were significantly smaller than other years (2.1 ± 0.7 [SE] days, 4.6 ± 0.7 days, P < 0.05, respectively). Average annual sum of the sunlight hours in the years before the years with FLD occurrence was significantly smaller than those without FLD occurrence (1457.1 ± 114.0 hr, 1811.3 ± 97.7 hr, P < 0.05, respectively) and was also significantly smaller for the sunlight hours during a harvest season (821.9 ± 60.2 hr, 1023.2 ± 52.7 hr, P < 0.05, respectively). Conclusions Temperature and sunlight hours closely associated with the FLD occurrence. Am. J. Ind. Med. 41:506–513, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.