Causation, Impairment, Disability: An Analysis of Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis Evaluations

The relation of exposure, impairment, and awarded disability in coal dust disease cases is often unclear. Surveillance data from large mining populations has demonstrated a decline in pulmonary function associated with coal dust exposure, even in miners with normal roentgenographs, though the freque...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of occupational and environmental medicine 1996-01, Vol.38 (1), p.77-82
Main Authors: Prince, T. Scott, Frank, Arthur L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Biological and medical sciences
Chemical and industrial products toxicology. Toxic occupational diseases
Coal Mining
Disability
Disability Evaluation
Humans
Inorganic dusts (pneumoconiosises) and organic dusts (byssinosis etc.)
Kentucky
Lung - physiopathology
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Occupational hazards
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Pneumoconiosis - etiology
Pneumoconiosis - physiopathology
Respiratory diseases
Smoking - epidemiology
Time Factors
Toxicology
Workers' Compensation - statistics & numerical data
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The relation of exposure, impairment, and awarded disability in coal dust disease cases is often unclear. Surveillance data from large mining populations has demonstrated a decline in pulmonary function associated with coal dust exposure, even in miners with normal roentgenographs, though the frequency with which this results in impairment is not well defined. This study examines a more specific group, 374 disability claimants, for whom evaluation data is less extensive. In this group, several pulmonary function variables declined in association with years mining, even after controlling for roentgenograph status and smoking. This was particularly seen among underground miners, although the declines were small and of marginal statistical significance. Awards were evaluated for 203 resolved cases. Among 59 with completely normal roentgenographs and pulmonary function tests (PFTs), 38 (64 %) received some disability award. These findings support development of a more rational impairment/disability system for those with potential coal dust disease.
ISSN:1076-2752
1536-5948
DOI:10.1097/00043764-199601000-00020