Predictors of silicosis and variation in prevalence across mines among employed gold miners in South Africa

Autor: Dave Knight, Rodney Ehrlich, Annibale Cois, Katherine Fielding, Alison D. Grant, Gavin Churchyard
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: BMC Public Health, Vol 20, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2020)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-020-08876-2
Popis: Abstract Background The stated intention to eliminate silicosis from the South African goldmining industry as well as current programmes to find and compensate ex-miners with silicosis require an understanding of variation in silicosis prevalence across the industry. We aimed to identify the predictors of radiological silicosis in a large sample of working miners across gold mines in South Africa. Methods Routine surveillance chest radiographs were collected from 15 goldmine “clusters” in a baseline survey undertaken in preparation for a separate tuberculosis isoniazid prophylaxis trial. All images were read for silicosis by a health professional experienced in using the International Labour Organisation (ILO) classification. Profusion thresholds of > 1/0 and > 1/1 were used. Demographic and occupational information was obtained by questionnaire. Predictors of silicosis were examined in a multivariable logistic regression model, including age, gender, racial ascription, country of origin, years since starting mine employment, mine shaft, skill category, underground work status and tuberculosis. Results The crude silicosis prevalence at ILO > 1/1 was 3.8% [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.5–4.1%]. The range across mine shafts was 0.8–6.9%. After adjustment for covariates, the interquartile range across shafts was reduced from 2.4 to 1.2%. Black miners [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.8; 95% CI 1.1–7.2] and miners in full-time underground work (aOR 2.1; 95% CI 1.3–3.4) had substantially elevated odds of silicosis, while workers from Mozambique had lower odds (aOR 0.54; 95% CI 0.38–0.77). Silicosis odds rose sharply with both age and years since starting in the industry (p for linear trend 15 years since first exposure and 2.2%
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
Externí odkaz:
Nepřihlášeným uživatelům se plný text nezobrazuje