Asthma diagnosed in late adulthood is linked to work disability and poor employment status

Age at asthma onset is associated with severity and outcomes of the disease.

We studied if age at asthma diagnosis is related to employment and outcomes in working career.

A questionnaire was sent to 2613 adults with asthma in Tampere, Finland, and a follow-up questionnaire was sent after six years. Asthmatics were divided into groups based on their employment status: working full-time or work disability. Logistic regression was used to study the association of age at asthma diagnosis with employment status at baseline and with the risk of exiting full-time work during follow-up period.

In cross-sectional analysis, asthma diagnosed in late adulthood (50 + years) was associated with higher OR for having work-disability compared to childhood onset asthma (OR [95% CI] 3.60 [1.43-9.06]). During follow-up, asthma diagnosed in late adulthood was associated with higher OR for exiting full time work compared to childhood-onset asthma (OR 10.87 [3.25-36.40]).

Asthma diagnosed in late adulthood is a higher risk for poor employment than asthma diagnosed earlier in life. Adult-onset of asthma is an important factor in view of work ability and early rehabilitation procedures.