[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 72 (Monday, April 14, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20056-20057]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-7845]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30 Day-08-07BD]


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) 639-5960 or send an e-mail 
to [email protected]. Send written comments to CDC Desk Officer, Office of 
Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503 or by fax to (202) 395-
6974. Written comments should be received within 30 days of this 
notice.

Proposed Project

    Building Related Asthma Research in Public Schools--New--National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    The mission of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
Health (NIOSH) is to promote safety and health at work for all people 
through research and prevention. The Occupational Safety and Health 
Act, Public Law 91-596 (section 20[a][1]) authorizes the National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to conduct 
research to advance the health and safety of workers. NIOSH is 
conducting a longitudinal study among teachers and staff in public 
schools. The goals of this study are (1) to document the time course of 
changes in respiratory health, sick leave, and quality of life in 
relation to building remediation for water incursion and dampness 
problems; (2) to validate the reporting of building-related lower 
respiratory symptoms in school staff with bronchial hyper-
responsiveness by the use of serial spirometry to look for building-
related patterns of airflow variability; and (3) to demonstrate that a 
toolkit comprised of a semi-quantitative index for assessing water 
damage and signs of moisture in schools, along with a short health 
questionnaire, can be used by school personnel to pinpoint specific 
problem areas and aid remediation efforts.
    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sponsored the 
Institute of Medicine to make an exhaustive review of the published 
literature relating exposures in damp buildings to health consequences. 
The committee findings, summarized in Damp Indoor Spaces and Health 
(Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science 2004), 
concluded that sufficient evidence exists for associating the presence 
of mold or other agents in damp buildings to nasal and throat symptoms, 
cough, wheeze, asthma symptoms in sensitized asthmatics, and 
hypersensitivity pneumonitis in susceptible persons. Identification of 
specific causal agents for these health outcomes in damp environments 
requires more investigation, and more research and demonstration 
projects are needed to evaluate interventions in damp buildings.
    NIOSH is proposing to conduct an initial cross-sectional 
respiratory health survey in three public schools. The study will then 
continue with two additional years of longitudinal follow-up, which 
will be used to assess respiratory health and environmental conditions 
in relation to time and intervention status in the three schools. NIOSH 
will study one school with no history of building leaks and good 
control of internal moisture sources, one school with previous building 
leaks and water damage but with subsequent renovation before the start 
of the study, and one school with current building leaks and dampness 
problems with renovation scheduled during the study. The questionnaire 
will be administered each year by a NIOSH interviewer who will record 
the responses directly into a computer. The questionnaire will be 
offered to all school employees; we expect no more than 300 
participants. It will include sections on the participant's medical 
history, work history, and home environment. For participants who no 
longer work at the school, a short questionnaire will be administered 
by NIOSH staff over the telephone during the second and third years of 
the study. Assuming that 10% of the participants will leave the school 
during the three-year period, we expect to interview about 30 former 
workers.
    All participants from the initial cross-sectional survey meeting an 
epidemiologic definition of asthma and reporting that the symptoms 
improve away from the school will be asked to perform spirometry and a 
methacholine challenge test, or if obstructed, a bronchodilator test, 
both of which are standard medical tests for asthma; NIOSH anticipates 
about 45 respondents for these tests. A maximum of twenty participants 
who are positive for either lung function test will be asked to 
participate in the serial spirometry study, which will cover three 
weeks during the school term and an additional three weeks during the 
summer break.
    The school nurse will be trained in using a shortened version of 
the health questionnaire to all school staff and analyze the results of 
the survey. Additionally, facility personnel will be trained in the use 
of a semi-quantitative index tool and asked to use the tool to assess 
areas in the schools for water damage and signs of moisture during 
their routine inspections. Participation in all components of the study 
is completely voluntary.
    There are no costs to the respondents other than their time. The 
total estimated annualized burden hours are 1030.

[[Page 20057]]



                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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                                                                                     Number of    Average burden
          Type of respondents                     Forms              Number of     responses per   per response
                                                                    respondents     respondent      (in hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Teachers and staff....................  NIOSH-Administered                   300               1           45/60
                                         Questionnaire.
Former teachers and staff.............  Former Worker                         30               1            9/60
                                         Questionnaire (Years 2
                                         & 3 only).
Teachers and staff....................  Spirometry, Methacholine              45               1               1
                                         Challenge Test or
                                         Bronchodilator
                                         Administration.
Teachers and staff....................  Serial Spirometry.......              20               1              37
Facility personnel....................  Semi-Quantitative                      3               1               5
                                         Assessment Sheet.
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    Dated: April 8, 2008.
Maryam I. Daneshvar,
Acting Reports Clearance Officer, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
 [FR Doc. E8-7845 Filed 4-11-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P