Occupational Medicine · 1994 · 42 citations · 0 references
Public HealthHealth SciencesPreventive MedicineOccupational HealthPulmonary Function TestingPulmonologyOccupational Disease SurveillanceOccupational EpidemiologyOccupational Lung DiseaseOccupational MedicineRespiratory DiseaseRespiratory SurveillanceOccupational Health EpidemiologyOccupational Morbidity SurveillanceOccupational Respiratory DiseaseOccupational Respiratory HazardsOccupational Respiratory HealthOccupational Respiratory SurveillanceRespiratory Illness SurveillanceWork-related Respiratory Disease Surveillance
Some 3500 new cases of occupational respiratory disease are estimated to have been seen annually by SWORD participants in 1992 and 1993 with little important difference between the two years. As the number of new cases recognized and reported by chest physicians is close to complete, the estimated incidence is essentially correct. The pattern of disease which clearly emerges shows that at least half is attributable to asbestos exposure, despite the fact that lung cancer from this cause may be under-reported. Benign pleural disease comprises a large proportion of the cases, the long-term implications of which are unknown. Almost 40% of the cases reported are of occupational asthma or inhalation accidents, both due to a very large number of different agents and affecting many and varied occupations. These cases are preventable providing their occupational aetiology is recognized and appropriate measures of control are intensified.