Occupational and Environmental Risk Factors for Chronic Fibrosing idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonia in South Korea

Objective: We studied the association of occupational and environmental agents with chronic fibrosing idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP) in South Korea. Methods: We recruited 92 patients with chronic fibrosing IIP and 92 matched controls who had normal chest radiograph findings by age and gender. We used a structured exposure questionnaire to evaluate potential occupational and environmental risk factors for chronic fibrosing IIP, with adjustments for age, smoking, and clinical risk factors. Results: We used conditional logistic regression models to analyze associations with chronic fibrosing IIP adjusted for age, smoking and clinical risk factors. Exposure to stone, sand, or silica significantly increased the risk of chronic fibrosing IIP (odds ratio = 5.01; 95% confidence interval, 1.07–24.21) Conclusions: Our findings indicate that exposure to stone, sand, and silica might constitute a risk factor for developing chronic fibrosing IIP in the Korean population.