Women and occupational lung disease: sex differences and gender influences on research and disease outcomes()

Camp, Patricia G; Dimich-Ward, Helen; Kennedy, Susan M

We have attempted to describe the current state of knowledge regarding occupational lung disease in women. A large section of this article was devoted to describing the methodologic challenges that face researchers when evaluating gender differences in occupational lung disease. The findings of the presented studies are likely limited by many of the methodologic problems that were identified earlier. To accurately identify the true risk of occupational lung disease in women workers, these findings must be replicated in future studies with special attention paid to the various aspects of occupational lung disease research that are susceptible to gender-related bias.