Mt. Mckenna et al., THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN OCCUPATION AND TUBERCULOSIS - A POPULATION-BASED SURVEY, American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 154(3), 1996, pp. 587-593
Citations number
34
Categorie Soggetti
Emergency Medicine & Critical Care","Respiratory System
There has been increasing interest in the potential association betwee
n occupation and the risk of tuberculosis. Therefore, we analyzed occu
pational information collected on all patients with clinically active
tuberculosis in 29 states from 1984 to 1985. Census data were used to
estimate the number of persons in each of the occupations. Information
on employment and occupation was ascertained for 9,534 (99%) of the w
orking age (16 through 64 yr) tuberculosis patients. The overall case
rate of tuberculosis in this age group in the study areas was 8.4 per
100,000 persons, which was slightly lower than the national rate of 9.
3 per 100,000 persons, As a group, health care workers had rates of tu
berculosis similar to the general population (standardized morbidity r
atio [SMR]: 1.0; 95% CI: 0.9 to 1.1). However, elevated rates were obs
erved for inhalation therapists (SMR: 2.9; 95% CI: 1.2 to 6.0), and lo
wer-paid health care workers (SMR: 1.3; 95% CI: 1.1 to 1.5). Elevated
rates were also noted for funeral directors (SMR: 3.9; 95% CI: 2.2 to
6.1) and farm workers (SMR: 3.7; 95% CI: 3.4 to 4.1). These data sugge
st that even in communities with relatively low rates of tuberculosis
certain occupations may be associated with an elevated risk.