Occupational risk factors for endometriosis in a cohort of flight attendants

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bertke SJ ; Grajewski, Barbara A. ; Johnson CY ; Lawson, Christina C. ; Tseng C-Y ; Whelan, Elizabeth A.
• Description:
  Objectives: This study aimed to compare odds of endometriosis in a cohort of flight attendants against a comparison group of teachers and investigate occupational risk factors for endometriosis among flight attendants. Methods: We included 1945 flight attendants and 236 teachers aged 18-45 years. Laparoscopically confirmed endometriosis was self-reported via telephone interview, and flight records were retrieved from airlines to obtain work schedules and assess exposures for flight attendants. We used proportional odds regression to estimate adjusted odds ratios (ORadj) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for associations between exposures and endometriosis, adjusting for potential confounders. Results: Flight attendants and teachers were equally likely to report endometriosis (ORadj 1.0, 95% CI 0.5-2.2). Among flight attendants, there were no clear trends between estimated cosmic radiation, circadian disruption, or ergonomic exposures and endometriosis. Greater number of flight segments (non-stop flights between two cities) per year was associated with endometriosis (ORadj 2.2, 1.1-4.2 for highest versus lowest quartile, P trend= 0.02) but block hours (taxi plus flight time) per year was not (ORadj 1.2, 95% CI 0.6-2.2 for highest versus lowest quartile, P trend=0.38). Conclusion: Flight attendants were no more likely than teachers to report endometriosis. Odds of endometriosis increased with number of flight segments flown per year. This suggests that some aspect of work scheduling is associated with increased risk of endometriosis, or endometriosis symptoms might affect how flight attendants schedule their flights. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aging Aircraft Circadian Rhythm Occupational Health Radiation Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Women Workplace
• Keywords:
  Age-groups Author Keywords: Circadian Disruption Circadian-rhythms Cohort Cohort Study Endometriosis Exposure-levels Flight-personnel Flight Attendant Humans Occupational Risk Risk-factors Risk Factor Work-environment Workers Work Schedule

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• ISSN:
  0355-3140
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  52-60
• Volume:
  42
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20047244
• Citation:
  Scand J Work Environ Health 2016 Jan; 42(1):52-60
• Contact Point Address:
  Candice Y Johnson, PhD, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1090 Tusculum Ave MS R-15, Cincinnati, OH, 45226
• Email:
  cyjohnson@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ca5736472989e9c7f73bf0b2dd08e31977b089cc38369fcfac2225e2519abf649c5119c1f8b087d2e5e4c8cf7cff3e1e887a0740fc70ad6fd56118eecd88d649
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202391/cdc_202391_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 235.33 KB ]