Rapidly progressive coal workers’ pneumoconiosis in the United States: geographic clustering and other factors

Background: Despite significant progress made in reducing dust exposures in underground coal miners in the United States, severe cases of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), including progressive massive fibrosis (PMF), continue to occur among coal miners. Aims: To identify US miners with rapidly pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Occupational and environmental medicine (London, England) England), 2005-10, Vol.62 (10), p.670-674
Main Authors: dos S Antao, V C, Petsonk, E L, Sokolow, L Z, Wolfe, A L, Pinheiro, G A, Hale, J M, Attfield, M D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Chemical and industrial products toxicology. Toxic occupational diseases
Classification
Cluster Analysis
Coal
Coal Mining
coal workers’ pneumoconiosis
Coal Workers’ X-ray Surveillance Program
CWP
CWXSP
Disease Progression
Dust
Geographical distribution
Geography
Humans
ILO
Inorganic dusts (pneumoconiosises) and organic dusts (byssinosis etc.)
International Labour Office
Lung - diagnostic imaging
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Mines
Mining
Mining accidents & safety
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
NIOSH
Occupational health and safety
Opacity
Original
PMF
Pneumoconiosis
Pneumoconiosis - diagnostic imaging
Pneumoconiosis - epidemiology
Prevalence
Preventive medicine
progressive massive fibrosis
Radiography
Respiratory diseases
Risk factors
Studies
Surface mining
surveillance
thoracic
Toxicology
United States - epidemiology
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Summary:Background: Despite significant progress made in reducing dust exposures in underground coal miners in the United States, severe cases of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), including progressive massive fibrosis (PMF), continue to occur among coal miners. Aims: To identify US miners with rapidly progressive CWP and to describe their geographic distribution and associated risk factors. Methods: Radiographic evidence of disease progression was evaluated for underground coal miners examined through US federal chest radiograph surveillance programmes from 1996 to 2002. A case of rapidly progressive CWP was defined as the development of PMF and/or an increase in small opacity profusion greater than one subcategory over five years. County based prevalences were derived for both CWP and rapidly progressive cases. Results: A total of 886 cases of CWP were identified among 29 521 miners examined from 1996 to 2002. Among the subset of 783 miners with CWP for whom progression could be evaluated, 277 (35.4%) were cases of rapidly progressive CWP, including 41 with PMF. Miners with rapidly progressive CWP were younger than miners without rapid progression, were more likely to have worked in smaller mines (
ISSN:1351-0711
1470-7926
DOI:10.1136/oem.2004.019679