Physicians' opinion on the relationship between oil smoke pollutant and acute illness

In August, 1991, at the time of the oil-smoke crisis, primary care physicians were asked to fill out questionnaires on their experience with patients exposed to smoke pollutants. A total of 232 physicians from 42 clinics responded, from whom 221 questionnaires were processed. These represented 80% of the primary care physicians available at these five Health Regions at that time. The results showed that the commonest presenting symptoms in patients suffering from the ill effects of oil-smoke pollutants were: allergic conditions of the eyes [79.19%]; asthma [76.92%]; cough [70.59%]; skin allergy with pruritus and itching [68.33%]. There were no marked differences in these estimates among the five Health Regions. As cited by 89.40%, patients with chronic pulmonary illness suffered the most. Those medications most frequently prescribed were: antihistamines [72.85%]; drugs used to treat asthma [71.49%]; cough mixtures [48.87%]; antipruritic preparations [49.77%]; eye drops [44.80%]. The treatment was described as effective in 89.57%. Referrals to hospitals were kept to a minimum