Objetivo This research should allow the work carried out under the Third and Fourth Programmes in the field of harmonization and standardization of lung tests to be extended and updated. These tests are indispensable in the coal and steel industries for monitoring purposes with a view to detecting the illness at an early stage, so that appropriate measures can be taken to prevent it worsening and to assess the scale of the damage and the resulting degree of invalidity. The ultimate aim of the research is to draw up additional recommendations for the harmonization of tests and procedures.The Working Party proposes to concentrate on the following tasks: a.Research into tests which are suitable and useful for testing workers at the workplace and which are relevance in the field of lung disease in coal and steel works. b.Add to the standardization report chapters on gas mixing, gas exchange and oscillatory mechanics. c. Issue a version of the full report which is suitable for laboratory technicians. d. Extend the scope of the work to include the study of methods of quality control and calibration of equipment, suitable for application at the work place. e.Update the previous standardization report. f.Prepare a report on physical exercise as a lung function challenge, and on recommended procedures and techniques for assessing bronchial reactivity to non-specific challenges. METHODS AND MEANS BY WHICH THE AIMS ARE TO BE ACHIEVEDThe specific tests comprise bronchial reactivity testing, measurement of airways resistance, intrapulmonary gas mixing and forced expiratory flows, which are widely used in assessing lung disease and have proven useful to that end. The Working Party will prepare a suitable exercise protocol, since physical exercise, by increasing the ventilatory demands, may bring to light better than in the subject at rest pathological alterations of the lung as an impediment to ventilation and gas exchange. Finally, the Working Party intends to carry out a survey (by questionnaire) of methods of assessing ventilatory function being carried out routinely in coal and steel works; in addition, it will enquire into the use of reference values, into the strategies of interpreting test results cross-sectionally and longitudinally, as well as into the level of professional proficiency with which tests are beng administered. Programa(s) ECSC-MEDRES 5C - Fifth medical research programme (ECSC) "Protection of workers against risks arising from work in the coal and steel industries", 1988-1992 Tema(s) Data not available Convocatoria de propuestas Data not available Régimen de financiación CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinador Leiden University Aportación de la UE Sin datos Dirección Wassenaarseweg 62 2300 RC LEIDEN Países Bajos Ver en el mapa Coste total Sin datos
