Occupation Mortality in Washington State, 1950-1989

181 Pages·1998·1.02 MB·English

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OCCUPATIONAL MORTALITY IN WASHINGTON STATE
1950-1989
Samuel Milham, Jr., M.D., M.P.H.
Washington State Department of Health
Chronic Disease Epidemiology
PO Box 47812
Olympia, Washington 98504-7812
Order No. 00913725
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Public Health Service
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies
Cincinnati, Ohio
March 1997
DISCLAIMER
The contents of this report are reproduced herein as received from the contractor.
The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the National Institute for
lyatn e o,fdihanttS aalr pa o tuennsncHoeeciomO t deyny efsnebstorameuop mtedmsaih notnttreccsoundoocrp
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
This document is in the public domain and may be freely copied or reprinted.
seip ofCo sih td ns rat eenHlh e:SbtemmOaoruoIlacrNiofadva
Publications Dissemination, EID
lanoitaN etutitsnI rof lanoitapuccO ytefaS dnahtlaeH
yaw kariabPm u6l7o6C4
Cincinnati, Ohio 45226
Fax number: [phone]
s no lo Tyairt nt eeroaHnd foic SordatitOiohnsaluItt a pboNaleouubmavtcpareicoheofcneir
)4764-6 5H3 S-,O0sI0mN8e --ll51bl3(oa-rc0p08-1
Contract deliverables submitted: May 1992. Current address for Dr. Milham:
Samuel Milham, M.D.
W,Npo ohLca eyBlleva r8G132
Olympia, Washington 98502-8837
phone: [phone]
331 - .6no9oNitacil b)uHPSO ISNH(HD
ii
CONTENTS
TCARTSBA vi
STNEMEGDELWONKCA v
NOITCUDORTNI 1
DOHTEM 4
STLUSER 6
)9891 -,Y0yR 5 tAE9NiTL1OlNB aEAe1tMTlrMaoOMMC( 7
)9891 -,4y7 t9Yi1 Rl EAaNeLTtOlBNr aAEo2mTMMeMFO(C 39
)es uyyatbCilat reo lME aL3M B(YNAROTATNEMMOC 48
)es uyyatbCilat reolMa mE eL4 F BY(NAROTATNEMMOC 52
NOISSUCSID 54
NOISULCNOC 58
SNOITADNEMMOCER 59
SECNEREFER 60
:STIBIHXE
Exhibit 1-- Death Certificate 64
sneodiotCa pdu ecti cif-Obi-id2hoxME 65
Exhibit 3-- PMR Calculation 81
Exhibit 4-- Occupation Grouping for Men 82
ng oniitpau porurocGfcOnemoW 95
N ER MOSFNOITAPUC CFXOOEDNI 101
NEM OR WOSFNOITAPUC CFXOOEDNI 134
SELB AETHCIFORCIM
elbaT ,1 yetlialMatroM 155
elbaT ,y 2teillaamterFoM 164
ye th syitfublaoaa eCtlDraonMoit aep lue,bcl3acaTOM 167
ye th syitfublaoaae CtDlraonMoitap ueecl lca,bOm4aeTF 172
iii
ABSTRACT
The occupational and cause-of-death information on 588,090 Washington State male deaths for 1950-
1989 and 88,071 female deaths for 1974-1989 was analyzed using an age and year-of-death standardized
etan oyittirloaptorro pmoitar .margorp A hdtealeid a-stfieosd-yelsaunaac 161( )sesuac si dehsilbup rof hcae fo912
. sse elr iaos rm fesoer iegfoldrle fan oatr nahgmaolocecfa iatnfteaooac ip8tu6acpcuocco
The occupational mortality findings are compared with those of the Registrar General and with the
published occupational mortality literature. The Washington State mortality pattern is, in general, consistent with
both the Registrar General's results and with the published literature. Some of the new occupational mortality
findings published in the 1950-1971 report and in the updated version have been confirmed.
ehT suoiv egrnpidnif fo a aime keusealercni ni srekr odwesopxe ot cirtcele dna citeng asmdleifsi
confirmed in this report.
vi
Acknowledgement:
sih Tseires fo s egindiuntnsap s02 sraey saw e dealmbis syolpno htiw eht pleh dna drah krow foynam
.elpoep , I,erofe rdelhutow ekil o tyllano skrneapht lla esoht ohw depleh.em
ye:heTdulcni
Rita Klein
Eleanor McPherson
Elnora McGraw
otor odvraaLhciR
dloraeHnaL
Jim Thomas
ll ayHggeP
Marilee Smith
Eric Ossiander
l lkecmumhoCR
v
Introduction
e t y fad dsodn suipoeithuchsTets Occupational Mortality in Washington State, 1950-1971, originally
dehsi lybbu pHSOIN ni 679 1.)1( eh T td seerhtisafid lpnbuiup 3d8e9r1e veo hc9 t7s9r 1a.-e)0y25(91 sihyTduts
srev o0c90,88 5etihw elam sh t9a8e9d1-059 1dna 170,88 etihw elame fs h,t9 a8ee9vd1i-s4u7l9c1xe fo965,431
.seviwesuoh
enO w eeenllbbaa tT)(4 sa hn edeebdd ao t .stirhotpe r tI si a el byat tifelo laya tbmeresofuma cnieht
yoti it t layeaeaRtmmt t ia ra sre lsyoneaole abfosMbl.stiuaa)nrtaTm3oo rc(imyo t b ps aeoekpsrlnuePbacharcTto
)RMP( rof hcae esuac fo .htaed elbaT 4 ni eht 9791-0591 etadpu hcihw detsil tnacifingis sesuac fo htaednihtiw
each occupation has been eliminated, since the same information is available in Table 1.
sih Tyduts dah s gsntiinn ingieb a e slaocr tyndoucts )3( s f'eonsia kehgscdiiodh Hwdesu e hettatspwueN
l.a n n kddoh oerrniteisooataltu Yc aeiaa erfmdfpchroor ut foedcayfhecednTw odu iostnhssasecfxoe
gsnniokirtoawpduoc ocnwoi eh ts'ni kegsdaoeHsi dpuorg sa derapmoc ot de h.cstlaomrtnoc nehW naweivretni
study (4) and a population-based study (5) confirmed this finding, I decided to examine the occupational pattern in
re hdteotce leessuac fo h.tsagendipuorg l o drnetAhn soyicdl-ubetusspancu fo ela mredd arlebcnachtaed
setacifitrec ni notgnihsaW etatS saw elba ot yfitnedi eht emas snoitapucco htiw desaercni ksir sa suoiverplacinilc
dna weivretni seiduts .)9-6( ,oslA a yduts )01( fo aimekuel htaed setacifitrec ni notgnihsaW etatS dna nogerOsaw
elba ot mrifno cdna dnetxe ya ldseutori ovn peo)eri1rpt1a(ic ofs osaaimek uhe.tls ingwoniitmarpaufcco
ehT ycarucca dna ssenetelpmoc fo eht htaed etacifitrec lanoitapucco tnemetats no eht notgnihsaWetatS
eta c sihaf twinateeredes cot e be t.iduoqo gl a nmoei tteia h pnTeuotc acseco khihstf tairaltoearfduescU"
occupation during most of lifetime" (Exhibit 1, item 13a). Over 97% of adult male death certificates contained a
usable occupation statement, i.e., only 3% had a blank or "retired" or "unknown" in the item 13a space. The death
tl nadeirmroetc tsesauratdwsni oo t ydlertoroop preorf.esu
eh Tycarucca fo l s aethntntoaeaicmetiedaftp iausttcars cwedocenimax erof e etrnh et.rserfefcindac roF
men dying of Hodgkin's disease (4) and urinary bladder cancer, interviews with next of kin indicated that the death
tlnaen moee i ttltsaaaaactcpwisiuftcinct eorodetic tdaehntiat bwyoebivre tnnii %57 fo ,ses aecvag adetaler
" d t e.nyn %tsel ie5aern f l1lseofo peaf oymrcfnla"iAexd tene ol , ndip%ssi ntm0eafaao1swopcauccco
".re k "rsd rotole wn olksleswirv lmiymolielwamtpn"a"otistapucco
nI a ye d rc uyuirtts nasiofeenposnuxrme a marro e ec,ty p) ltsp2h endo1temurc(ansooeoccedlerarew
cin etgn o e . hemfayclnomfnbi oio aa ontr 4tctinb2riceen r dcesfagi sgrocnrAoei ehky5ftcrd2olnoeowmrsb
a smddoerndo ilcyceelrirnayoc eno e r,ohmtae dna tuo f. otyntenduiosc er fO '0s s0rgh1enteianeeiodgBne
deniatrecsa hguorht noinu ,sdrocer 89 erew dedoc ot eht gnieoB reenigne.yrogetac
With this experience and confidence in the occupational information on the Washington State death
record, I thought it appropriate to examine the mortality pattern for all occupational groups. The rationale behind
d d ed eddwlspl lno unuaeualeooebonlbcivwiotef arei sc huoftasoacse/adlano ih t csata ap aowwushrecitpnchpota
trohoc .seiduts ehT taerg laeppa fo gniyfitn ecdiifi cleapnsoitapuc csoesuac fo ytilatrom si ,tah t,yllacinhcet llaera
preventable by environmental manipulation.
ede en wt el: shonoarsisoat iondeaftt wfspb bcaoiumeacuhfenTd
1. htaeD sdrocer rof lla elam shtaed dah neeb ylenituor dedoc ot noitapucco ni siht ,eciffognitrats
with 1972 deaths. Female deaths had also been coded to occupation starting with 1974 deaths.
1
2. A rebmun fo sgnidnif fo eh t1791-0 5y9d1uts dah d enteaeibtnat sn binuosital udpeospabseiduts
(13-15).
3. The 1950-1971 and 1950-1979 tables had proven useful in a number of areas, but were not as
tnerr usca. eslabwissop
4. HSOIN sa wgnikr ohwt iswuo isreatvats ot etomo rspiht tros f osisyla nddaneasserp xneatseretni
ni gnitroppus a dnoces etadpu fo siht.yduts
5. ecniS 04 evituces nsorcaey fo atad erew ,tneserp I depoh taht emit sdnert nilanoitapucco
mortality would now be discernable. The large increase (158,000 male deaths) in file size had
osla edam ti elbissop ot kcehc no reilrae sgnidnif desab no llams srebmun fo.shtaed
6. I detnaw ot od a lanif etadpu dna sisylana erofeb I.deriter
2
t r soseipid heapTrmu :frssout eoeflfsobat
noitap u ycyt cbieol la1bt are TolmaM
noitap u ycytcbiol aet lre2bolama TmeF
hs tef asodeuedatcc e nldi e ehys RktbsMninPaw oreil tb3aapT u eclcaoM
hs tef asodeuedatcc e nldi e ehys RktbsMninPawori teal pb 4uaecTlc aomeF
The tabular format has been changed in that mortality is now shown for two 13 year periods and one 14
year period: 1950-1962, 1963-1975, and 1976-1989.

3
Method
Punch cards containing death record information were available for the years 1950-1971. Death certificate
numbers of all male resident deaths in Washington State, age 20+, for the years 1950-1971 were listed in
etacifitrec rebmun redro nihtiw raey fo .htaed ehT htaed drocer noitapucco stnemetats erew detcartsba dnadedoc
using a modification of the 1960 U.S. Census Bureau code (Exhibit 2). The death certificate numbers and the
noit aspeudcocco erew deyek otni a kced fo sdrac dna eseh tsdrac erew ne hdtehctam ot e hltani ghitraoe dsdracno
year and death certificate number. For matching cards, the occupation code was punched into the initial death
.drac s ehct a.e myrd-leenlwvoalNcoisree rlc edheTte lspdmroacc erew daer o tcnioten.geapmat
roF elam shtaed 6891-2791 dna elamef shtaed ,6891- 4n7o9i1tapucco saw yllaunam dedoc ylenituor noa
ylhtnom sisab dna dedda ot eht yliranidro deraperp retupmoc drocer fo .htaed esehT sdrocer erew dedda oteht
existing 1950-1971 file. Occupational and industry literals were keyed in the death records from 1987-1989 and
erew retupmoc dedoc ecnis neht htiw a launam.pukcab
Since the study period included two International Classification of Diseases code changes, ninth and
hthgie noisiver sedoc erew detalsnart ot htneves noisiver sedoc htiw a noitalsnart .elbat ehT sesuac fo htaednevig
ni s iyh dtgun tiesdr raootc cn aoheith sntDie CvvsIeeyersc dn d hoeee;tcinrnicuio wimuiefmqtneIcpoDAecxe
Syndrome (AIDs) is 9th ICD numbers 042-044 starting with 1987 deaths. In the years 1983-1986, AIDs was
ytin udmemtiaide my- clfnloeei ccd ie, ofd1 hteo.Dtdc9C97I2
est hie thceawnde-iadnSmo npu ss enlaht %3 fo e hlt a,teo ltyief hdeter temtwoirm foe h ctsieslabbafto
s i,hytdu trsof eht e.kyatsi efnoe gom o dhl elstAen leebsraeatr pro fe tsih ht.wayeldno tuO f o tenstehadttiasseedr
erew osla detanimile morf eht.elif
A computer program which performed an age and year of death standardized PMR analysis was written
dna nur ees( tibihxE .)3 roF h c,aneoi tdaepvurcecsobo dna detcep xsehtaed dna a RMP era detneserp ybdeliated
edss er u ,pa ,afhuefh cotoyo td ardan.eg ee aed stdr gdh aoha eterfcr tareaaceanee edeyfpgox Eeydhdetustansbo
taht s'raey ytilatrom .ecneirepxe snoitatcepxE era neht demmus revo sraey fo htaed otni eht etairporppa sllec foeht
s el .s slr hasr seaetaafawegaeolyaeycd - cerivofifif c,eeprsofe r,seehh rtt daa.eeetdlc beaptxE
detcepxE htaed seicneuqerf era dednuor ot eht tseraen elohw rebmun erofeb ;gnitnirp ,revewohtcaxe
se ildcaen ntee ocurdieqaetpelcxraa eftro oftdtneip usorragey d ndaep u,osregga os tah tes eshltato tyam eyblthgils
t . rnnssae ae eerehsei yegtsh cy-faatmnbeflu evics duid f eqfAos teuencrnhge fitip) msx-de( e strinoifRrMpP
de tnsa oeryiuebs lniyaevb vgid d eentu aclseas pvenxlaeh tes.ns)o eso lRtd gM(ienP ogivrnaaakle smniAretsa
)*( retfa a RMP eul asvetacidn itaht eht devresbo dna detcep xseeulav rof taht RMP yelrta ntanceirfeifnfgiids taeht
l e( v%e5l 2 3.84; p .)50. A elbuod ksiretsa )**( setacidni taht eht devresbo dna detcepxe shtaedera
1
yltnacifing itsnereffid ta eht %1 level ( 2 6.64; p .)10. s RdMe P tg ean d.rlitesausctecuaculxelaepacxve
1
l agcniittss iesttaawtS enod ylno ndoe vsreeuslbaov fo xis r oretae rdgna ni e hdtep usorragey fo htaed dna ega-02
46 .snmuloc esuaC fo htaed senil era detnirp ylno fi ereht si na devresbo ro detcepxe.htaed
e hnToitapu cecdooc desu ni eh t1791-0 5y9d1uts saw denifer ot etanimile s anoita chicfuimsssaalcsim
possible. For example, telephone installers and repairmen were separated from telephone linemen, and body and
fender repairmen were separated from automobile mechanics and repairmen.
For the years 1988-1989, a smoking question has been asked on the Washington state death certificate.
ehT noitseuq sksa rehtehw eht tnedeced dekoms ni eht 51 sraey roirp ot .htaed tI si derewsna htiw a sey ro .on
This information is used in the interpretation of the results, to help sort out the contribution of smoking to
ytilatrom yb .noitapucco roF nosirapmoc ,serugif eht lla elam gnikoms ecnelaverp si ,%3.64 elihw eht llaelamef
smoking prevalence is 29.7%.
4