Causal association between firefighting and pulmonary fibrosis
WorkSafeBC Evidence-Based Practice Group, Martin CW
Record ID 32018013507
English
Authors' objectives:
To determine whether there is any evidence to support the (causal) association in being a firefighter and developing pulmonary fibrosis.
Authors' results and conclusions:
Eight published studies were identified from searching databases available in Ovid platform while searching NIOSHTIC-2 database did not find any study. Upon examination on the titles and abstracts of these eight studies, four studies were thought to be relevant and were retrieved in full for further appraisal. A further nine studies were manually identified. Of the 13 studies that were retrieved in full in this systematic review, only one study provided relevant evidence and is summarized below. Baldwin et al reported on a 65 year-old male, with a distant history of smoking in New York. A city firefighter responded to the World Trade Center on the morning of 9/11/01 but stopped recovery work after 2 days due to a severe cough that persisted for years but ultimately improved. His clinical and radiographic presentation was consistent with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and his histopathological examination demonstrated usual interstitial pneumonitis. At present, there is evidence, in the form of a case report, (level of evidence 4) on the development of pulmonary fibrosis in a firefighter exposed to dust. It should be noted that the development of pulmonary fibrosis in this case may be associated with specific characteristics of the World Trade Center dust. At present, the available evidence may not be sufficient to establish a causal association of being a firefighter and the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Authors' methods:
A systematic literature search was conducted on April 4, 2024. This literature search was conducted on commercial medical literature databases as well as on non-commercial occupational health and safety database. The search was done by employing combinations of keywords. No other limitations on were implemented in any of these searches. A manual search was also planned and conducted on the references of the articles that were retrieved in full.
Details
Project Status:
Completed
URL for project:
https://www.worksafebc.com/en/about-us/research-services/evidence-based-medicine-and-systematic-reviews
Year Published:
2024
English language abstract:
An English language summary is available
Publication Type:
Mini HTA
Country:
Canada
MeSH Terms
- Pulmonary Fibrosis
- Firefighters
- Lung Diseases
- Occupational Exposure
- Risk Assessment
Keywords
- firefighter
- firefighting
- fireman
- firemen
- pulmonary fibrosis
Contact
Organisation Name:
WorkSafeBC
Contact Address:
6591 Westminster Highway, Richmond, BC, V7C 1C6 Canada. Tel: 604-231-8417; Fax: 604-279-7698
Contact Name:
ebpg@worksafebc.com
Contact Email:
ebpg@worksafebc.com
Copyright:
WorkSafe BC
This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA or other HTA producer. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database.