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Washington — Workers in certain industries and occupations may have an elevated risk of death from the progressive lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, according to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
IPF is characterized by scarring and decreasing lung function. Common symptoms of the disease, which CDC says has a poor prognosis, include shortness of breath and cough.
“Your risk for IPF is higher if you smoke or have a family history of IPF, and the risk increases with age,” the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says.
Previous IPF occupational exposure risk research found that 21% of IPF deaths could be linked to on-the-job exposures.
Using the National Vital Statistics System, the researchers analyzed data from 2020 to 2022 for more than 10 million people who died from multiple causes. These people were ages 15 and older and had worked at some point in their lives. They identified nearly 68,000 decedents (59% of whom were male) with IPF listed as the underlying or contributing cause of death.
The highest number of IPF deaths were among people 75 and older, men, and people who were non-Hispanic and White. By industry, the highest percentage of IPF deaths occurred among males in manufacturing (18.9%) and females in the health care and social assistance industry (15.2%).
By occupation, males in management (14.4%) and female office and administrative support workers (16.1%) had the highest percentage of IPF deaths.
The highest IPF mortality rates by industry were males in utilities and females in public administration. For occupation group, it was males in social services and females in farming, fishing and forestry.
“Estimates of elevated IPF mortality among workers in some industries and occupations warrant confirmation and continued surveillance to identify occupational exposures that could be targeted to prevent or reduce IPF mortality,” the researchers write.
The study was published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
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Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication