Work-related exposures contribute up to one third of adult asthma, causing occupational asthma and work- exacerbated asthma. There is a need for a valid and reliable work-related asthma questionnaire for medical surveillance and epidemiological surveys of high-risk working populations in diverse settings globally. Recently, diagnostic models using simple self-administered questionnaires and clinical scores to predict occupational asthma have also been proposed. The objectives of the task force are to form an expert panel to develop an up- to-date consensus document that will collate various questionnaires that are currently in use; review the scientific literature and summarize the evidence on work-related asthma questionnaires and algorithms; develop a protocol and prototype questionnaire; and initiate a multinational collaborative study to validate the questionnaire, evaluate its performance and enable further refinement and translation for more widespread use.

Chair: Mohamed Jeebhay
Secretary: Hille Suojalehto