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Chronic respiratory disease morbidity in construction workers: patterns and prognostic significance for permanent disability and overall mortality.
- Source :
-
The European respiratory journal [Eur Respir J] 1997 May; Vol. 10 (5), pp. 1093-9. - Publication Year :
- 1997
-
Abstract
- The aim of this study was to determine chronic respiratory disease morbidity in construction workers, and to assess the prognostic value of various morbidity measures on permanent disability and on all-cause mortality. Subjects in this analysis were male employees in the German construction industry, aged 40-64 yrs, who were examined by the occupational health service between August 1986 and December 1988. Prevalence of respiratory disorders as characterized by: 1) pathological findings on lung auscultation; 2) reduced forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1); and 3) a medical diagnosis of chronic respiratory disease (International Classification of Diseases 9th revision (ICD-9) 490496) was assessed among occupational groups of construction workers, and compared with prevalence among white-collar employees. Active follow-up was conducted between October 1992 and July 1994 to ascertain working and life status (completeness: 92 and 96%, respectively). The prognostic value of the morbidity measures on permanent disability and on all-cause mortality was assessed using the Cox proportional hazards model. In the entire cohort, crude prevalence was 7.6% for pathological findings on lung auscultation, 8.8% for a reduced FEV1 (<70% of predicted value), and 6.1% for a recorded diagnosis of chronic respiratory disease. There was strong variation of prevalence with age, smoking status and, less clearly, occupation. The relative risk for permanent disability varied between 1.9 and 3.2, and for mortality between 2.0 and 2.9, respectively, when men with the various measures of bronchopulmonary disorders were compared with other men. The morbidity measures utilized allow the identification of employees at higher risk of disability and death, and this may facilitate targeting of specific prevention and rehabilitation measures.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Age Factors
Chronic Disease
Follow-Up Studies
Forced Expiratory Volume physiology
Germany epidemiology
Humans
Industry
Lung Diseases epidemiology
Lung Diseases mortality
Male
Middle Aged
Occupational Diseases epidemiology
Occupational Diseases mortality
Prevalence
Prognosis
Risk
Smoking
Disability Evaluation
Lung Diseases diagnosis
Occupational Diseases diagnosis
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0903-1936
- Volume :
- 10
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- The European respiratory journal
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 9163652
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1183/09031936.97.10051093