This study examined the possible association between agricultural and horticultural work and the subsequent morbidity of Parkinson's disease.
Fixed cohorts of 2,273,872 men and women aged 20-59 years on 1 January 1981 and identified in the Central Population Register of Denmark were followed, and all first-time hospitalizations with Parkinson's disease as the principal diagnosis during the 13 years until 31 December 1993 were recorded. Standardized hospitalization ratios (SHR) were calculated using all gainfully employed persons as the standard and by multiplying the ratio by 100. Ninety-five percent confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated on the assumption of a Poisson distribution.
A high risk of Parkinson's disease was found for the men and women in agriculture and horticulture (134 cases, SHR 132, 95% CI 111-156). Statistically significantly high risks were found for farmers (79 cases, SHR 130, 95% CI 103-163) and for all men in agriculture and horticulture (109 cases, SHR 134, 95% CI 109-162).
A consistent pattern of high Parkinson's disease morbidity was found among occupational groups employed in agriculture and horticulture.
To focus on one possible predictor of reported work related injuries--the role of living in building-site camps versus daily commuting from home to construction sites.
A cohort of construction workers was collected, based on personnel files from contractors involved in the building of the Great Belt Bridge. The files included information on employment periods and whether or not the employees lived in building-site camps. The cohort was followed up for injuries reported to the National Work Environment Authority.
Construction workers living in camps reported 217 accidents, of which 24 were serious or fatal. Among those not living in camps we found 262 accidents, of which 29 were serious or fatal. The relative risk for all accidents for camp versus non-camp was 0.84 (95% CI 0.69 to 1.00). The respective figure for serious or fatal accidents was RR = 0.85 (95% CI 0.47 to 1.52).
Results suggest that high accident rates at large construction sites may be reduced, if commuting is replaced by living on-site.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the risk of cancer associated with exposure to air pollution among bus drivers and tramway employees. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of 18,174 bus drivers or tramway employees in Copenhagen in the period 1900-94. Data on employment were obtained from company files. Information on cancer was obtained from the Danish Cancer Registry. RESULTS: Findings showed that bus drivers or tramway employees had an increased risk of all malignant neoplasms (standardised incidence ratio (SIR) 1.24, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.19 to 1.30). The relative risk was significantly increased for both men and women (SIR 1.24, 95% CI 1.19 to 1.30 and 1.28, 1.06 to 1.53, respectively). People employed for 3 months the risk of lung cancer (1.6, 1.5 to 1.8), laryngeal cancer (1.4, 1.0 to 1.9), kidney cancer (1.6, 1.3 to 2.0), bladder cancer (1.4, 1.2 to 1.6), skin cancer (1.1, 1.0 to 1.2), pharyngeal cancer (1.9, 1.2 to 2.8), rectal cancer (1.2, 1.0 to 1.5) and liver cancer (1.6, 1.2 to 2.2) was significantly increased. For women employed for > 3 months the risk of lung cancer was significantly increased (2.6, 1.5 to 4.3). CONCLUSION: This cohort study shows that bus drivers and tramway employees are at an increased risk of developing several types of cancer. This might be due to the exposure to air pollution during working hours or to other risk factors, primarily smoking.
To investigate incidences of disability retirement among men who had been employed at the construction of a large traffic link in Denmark, which involved long working hours and long distances between home and work place.
Men aged 20-54 years at baseline who had been engaged in the construction of the Great Belt Link (n = 5882) were followed-up for disability retirements from 1996 to 2000. Age-standardized incidence ratios (SIR) were calculated and compared with those of other construction workers (n = 117,157). All economically active men in Denmark were used as the standard population.
The SIRs for the two groups were 2.29 (95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.95-2.67) and 0.98 (95% CI: 0.93-1.03), respectively.
The Great Belt construction workers had an elevated risk for disability retirement compared with other construction workers and with economically active men in general.
An excess risk of gastric ulcer (GU) (ICD-8: 531) has formerly been found in shift workers and ex-shiftworkers but little is known about the risk of GU associated with other forms of non-daytime work. This study deals with associations between non-daytime work and GU.
A fixed cohort of 122,116 men in occupations in which at least 20% had non-daytime work and a reference group of 593,281 men in occupations with daytime work only, was followed in the National Inpatient Register for first discharges with GU as the principal diagnosis.
For men with daytime work only we found a steep inverse association between GU and employment status. Men in occupational groups with late evening work had a standardized hospitalization ratio (SHR) of 236 (90% confidence interval [Cl]: 184-299), groups working in rosters covering 24-hour services had an SHR of 147 (90% Cl: 116-183). A slightly raised risk of 114 (90% Cl: 101-128) was found in groups having other forms of non-daytime work. For all men in groups with non-daytime work we found a significant SHR of 130 (90% Cl: 118-142).
We conclude that both low employment status and non-daytime work are associated with an increased risk of GU.
OBJECTIVES: To facilitate decisions about interventions and to establish baseline values for future evaluation of preventive efforts, the aim of the present study was to elucidate the disease pattern among male professional drivers in Denmark. The study differentiated between drivers of goods vehicles and drivers of passenger transport. METHODS: Cohorts of all 20-59 year old Danish male professional drivers in the years 1981, 1986, 1991, and 1994 were formed, to calculate age standardised hospital admission ratios (SHRs) and time trends (1981-97) for many diagnostic aggregations. RESULTS: SHRs for diseases in practically all systems and organs of the body were higher among professional drivers than they were in the male working population at large. Also drivers of passenger transport, compared with drivers of goods vehicles, had significantly high SHRs due to infectious and parasitic diseases, diseases of the circulatory system, and diseases of the respiratory system, and significantly lower rates of injury. For both driver groups, the SHRs for acute myocardial infarction increased with time whereas the SHR for acute gastritis decreased, and for drivers of passenger transport an increasing SHR for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, was found over time. CONCLUSION: Drivers of passenger transport and drivers of goods vehicles differ in their disease patterns. The results support the hypothesis that preventive efforts are needed in both groups, but underline that different strategies are required for different categories of drivers.
AIMS: To study morbidity among active seafarers in the merchant navy in order to clarify possible work related morbidity and the morbidity related to work and lifestyle where possible preventive measures may be initiated. METHODS: From a register in the Danish Maritime Authority a cohort of Danish merchant seafarers who had been actively employed at sea in 1995 was identified. For each seafarer, information on all employment periods at sea, charge aboard, and ship was available. The cohort was linked with the National In-patient Register in Denmark. Standardised hospitalisation ratios (SHRs) were calculated for all major diagnostic groups using all gainfully employed as reference. RESULTS: Seafarers were shown to be inhomogeneous, with significant differences in SHRs for the same disease groups between different groups of seafarers depending on charge and ship type. SHRs for lifestyle related diseases were high, although rates for acute conditions, such as acute myocardial infarction, were low, probably due to referral bias, as acute conditions are likely to cause hospitalisation abroad, and thus are not included in the study. SHRs for injury and poisoning were high, especially for ratings and officers aboard small ships. CONCLUSION: Despite pre-employment selection, a large proportion of the seafarers constitute a group of workers with evidence of poor health probably caused by lifestyle. The subgroups with high risk of hospitalisation due to lifestyle related diseases also had an increased risk of hospitalisation due to injury and poisoning.
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to estimate the risk of lung cancer for women occupationally exposed to cobalt-aluminate spinel. METHODS: A retrospective cohort of 874 women occupationally exposed to cobalt in two Danish porcelain factories and 520 women not exposed to cobalt were identified from personnel files. Vital status was assessed in the national population register, and incident cancer cases were traced in the national cancer register. Thirteen women (0.92%) were lost to follow-up. The observed deaths and incident cancer cases were compared with the expected number based on rates for all Danish women. RESULTS: The total mortality of the cohort was the same as for all Danish women. The incidence of all cancer was slightly elevated among the exposed women (67 observed, 55.8 expected) and equal to the expected in the reference group (60 observed, 60.6 expected). An increased lung cancer incidence was found both in the exposed group [8 cases, standardized incidence rate (SIR) 2.35, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.01-4.6] and in the reference group (7 cases, SIR 1.99, 95% CI 0.8-4.1). The exposed group had a relative risk ratio of 1.2 (95% CI 0.4-3.8) when compared with the reference group. CONCLUSIONS: Both the cobalt-exposed group and the reference group had an increased lung cancer risk compared with all Danish women, but the risk was only slightly higher for the exposed group than for the reference group. The study was based on few persons, and we recommend a follow-up after five years.
BACKGROUND: In the mid 1980s European governments committed themselves to the WHO goal 'reduced inequality in health by year 2000' according to which inequality in health should be reduced by 25% by the year 2000. The study aim is to estimate the time trend in relative risk due to ischaemic heart disease (IHD) morbidity in employment status groups in Denmark in the period from 1981 to 1993 and to recommend a strategy to reduce inequality in health. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study dealt with change in relative risk of IHD in main employment status AND groups as measured in three successive cohorts. The cohorts were defined as all METHODS: gainfully employed men in Denmark as of 1 January 1981, 1986 and 1991, respectively. Information on employment was retrieved for the three previous years. The cohorts were followed for first admissions with IHD as the principal cause during 5, 5, and 3 years respectively. RESULTS: Managers and white collar workers had an average or low and decreasing relative risk while male blue collar workers had a high and increasing relative risk. Thus the social inequality in IHD is rapidly increasing. Some occupational groups are known to be at high risk. Some of these high-risk groups, such as bus drivers, even have an increasing relative risk. CONCLUSIONS: The general health education has been successful in the prevention of IHD in the high-status groups but has failed to reduce the risk among blue collar workers. Preventive measures against IHD should focus on occupational groups at high, increasing risk and the measures should tailor to their 'subculture.'
Workers exposed to pigs can develop meningitis, sepsis or endocarditis due to infection with Streptococcus suis transmitted from pigs to man.
To estimate the risk of these diseases.
We used the Occupational Hospitalization Register (OHR) which holds information about occupation and hospital treatments for all adults in Denmark. A dynamic population of male workers exposed to pigs was identified every year from 1995 to 2006 by occupational and industrial groups. First hospital treatment or death in the following year due to meningitis, sepsis or endocarditis was identified by ICD-10 codes from the OHR. By comparison with all other economically active men in Denmark, the standardized incidence ratio (SIR) was calculated for these diseases.
Among those exposed, we observed 32 cases of meningitis, sepsis and endocarditis during 140,118 person-years. In the reference group, we observed 2680 cases during 15,209,394 person-years. The SIR of the exposed group was 1.35 (95% CI: 0.95-1.92). Among the 32 cases, 7 cases of meningitis and sepsis were specified as caused by infection with streptococci. The SIR for these seven cases was 2.4 (95% CI: 1.1-5.0).
Our study did not find that workers exposed to pigs had an overall increased risk of developing meningitis, sepsis or endocarditis.
