[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 244 (Friday, December 19, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 70798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-31306]



[[Page 70798]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30Day-14-04]


Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and 
Recommendations

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a 
list of information collection requests under review by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call 
the CDC Reports Clearance Officer at (404) 498-1210. Send written 
comments to CDC, Desk Officer, Human Resources and Housing Branch, New 
Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax 
to (202) 395-6974. Written comments should be received within 30 days 
of this notice.
    Proposed Project: Workplace Exacerbation of Asthma (OMB No. 0920-
0495)--Extension--National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
(NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
    Work-related asthma is the most common lung disease seen in 
occupational health clinics in the United States based on data from the 
Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics for 1991-1996. 
Work-related asthma includes both new onset asthma initiated by 
workplace exposures and pre-existing asthma exacerbated by workplace 
environments, in both types of cases repeated exposure to asthmatic 
agents can lead to chronic pulmonary impairment. The 1985 American 
Thoracic Society statement ``What Constitutes an Adverse Health Effect 
of Air Pollution'' identified exacerbation of asthma as one of the 
serious effects of environmental air pollution. While anecdotal 
evidence suggests that as many as one-half of work-related asthma 
patients treated in occupational medicine clinics had pre-existing 
asthma that was exacerbated by workplace conditions, there are few data 
from studies in the United States to support this claim.
    Three years ago, NIOSH requested approval from OMB to conduct a 
three phase study. In Phase 1 (Baseline Study), a telephone interview 
was conducted to address three specific aims: (1) To determine the 
frequency of workplace exacerbation of asthma (WEA); (2) to determine 
the circumstances at work associated with exacerbation of asthma; and 
(3) to determine the social and economic costs associated with 
workplace exacerbation of asthma. To date, the Baseline Study telephone 
interviews have been completed for a total of 615 participants. Also, 
patient care records have been obtained in order to ascertain cost of 
care for asthma for each participant (Specific Aim 3).
    Phase 2 (Validation Phase) is being conducted with a subset of 
respondents from the Baseline Study. Employed respondents with and 
without workplace exacerbation are being asked to conduct serial 
spirometry with a portable device. These findings will serve as the 
``gold standard'' to determine the sensitivity and specificity of a 
self-report of workplace exacerbation of asthma (Specific Aim 
4). As part of the serial testing, respondents complete a 
diary and final brief telephone interview at the end of the serial 
testing. Data collection for Phase 2 continues. The Paperwork Reduction 
Act does not apply to Phase 2 of the study.
    In Phase 3 (Follow-up Study), all respondents from the Baseline 
Study will be asked to complete a follow-up telephone interview 
approximately two years later to investigate whether workplace 
exacerbation at baseline predicts an increase in asthma severity 
(Specific Aim 5). We anticipate that interviewing for Phase 3 
will continue through August, 2004.
    The data collected in this study will be used to further understand 
the frequency of workplace-exacerbated asthma, the social and economic 
impacts of this problem, and the implication of self-reporting WEA for 
subsequent asthma severity. This information can be used to prioritize 
resources for addressing this problem. The data collected in this study 
will also identify which jobs and exposures are likely to exacerbate 
existing asthma, thus providing guidance on where to focus preventive 
efforts. Collected data on the validity of self-reporting WEA will be 
useful to both clinicians and researchers who attempt to treat or study 
individuals with this problem. The annualized burden for this data 
collection is 214 hours.

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                                                                                     Number of    Average Burden
                           Respondents                               Number of     responses per   per Response
                                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Validation Study \*\............................................           (200)             (1)           (7.5)
Follow-up Study: Attempt to conduct an interview................             465               1            5/60
Follow-up Study: Completed interviews...........................             349               1          30/60
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\*\ The Paperwork Reduction Act does not apply to the Validation Study.


    Dated: December 11, 2003.
Alvin Hall,
Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 03-31306 Filed 12-18-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P