Rates and Costs of Respiratory Illness in Coal Mining: A Cross-Industry Comparative Analysis

Objective: To estimate the prevalence and costs of respiratory illness for workers in coal mining, compared with other US industries. Methods: Using 5 years of insurance claims data for an annual average of 96,240 adult males, we model the probability and costs of respiratory illness as a function o...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of occupational and environmental medicine 2010-06, Vol.52 (6), p.610-617
Main Authors: Van Houtven, George, Reed, W. Randy, Biddle, Elyce A., Volkwein, John C., Clayton, Laurel, Finkelstein, Eric
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Biological and medical sciences
Chemical and industrial products toxicology. Toxic occupational diseases
Coal mining
Coal Mining - economics
Coal Mining - statistics & numerical data
Comparative analysis
Humans
Inorganic dusts (pneumoconiosises) and organic dusts (byssinosis etc.)
Insurance Claim Review - statistics & numerical data
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Miscellaneous
Occupational Diseases - economics
Occupational Diseases - epidemiology
Occupational hazards
Occupational health
Occupational medicine
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Respiratory diseases
Respiratory Tract Diseases - economics
Respiratory Tract Diseases - epidemiology
Toxicology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective: To estimate the prevalence and costs of respiratory illness for workers in coal mining, compared with other US industries. Methods: Using 5 years of insurance claims data for an annual average of 96,240 adult males, we model the probability and costs of respiratory illness as a function of workers' industry and other factors. Results: Controlling for nonindustry factors, workers in coal mining had significantly higher rates of respiratory illness claims (by 2.1% to 3.3% points) compared with other mining, agriculture, construction, and manufacturing. For coal mining workers with respiratory illness, annual medical care costs for these claims were also significantly higher (by $111 to $289). Surprisingly, drug costs were mostly lower (by $17 to $268). Conclusions: Our findings underscore the continued importance and potential cost effectiveness of measures to protect miners from harmful occupational exposures, particularly to coal dust.
ISSN:1076-2752
1536-5948
DOI:10.1097/JOM.0b013e3181de47e3