Occupational exposures and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): comparison of a COPD-specific job exposure matrix and expert-evaluated occupational exposures

Details

• Personal Author:
  Doney B ; Kurth L ; Weinmann S
• Description:
  Objectives: To compare the occupational exposure levels assigned by our National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health chronic obstructive pulmonary disease specific job exposure matrix (NIOSH COPD JEM) and by expert evaluation of detailed occupational information for various jobs held by members of an integrated health plan in the Northwest USA. Methods: We analysed data from a prior study examining COPD and occupational exposures. Jobs were assigned exposure levels using 2 methods: (1) the COPD JEM and (2) expert evaluation. Agreement (Cohen's k coefficients), sensitivity and specificity were calculated to compare exposure levels assigned by the 2 methods for 8 exposure categories. Results: k indicated slight to moderate agreement (0.19-0.51) between the 2 methods and was highest for organic dust and overall exposure. Sensitivity of the matrix ranged from 33.9% to 68.5% and was highest for sensitisers, diesel exhaust and overall exposure. Specificity ranged from 74.7% to 97.1% and was highest for fumes, organic dust and mineral dust. Conclusions: This COPD JEM was compared with exposures assigned by experts and offers a generalisable approach to assigning occupational exposure. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Dust Epidemiology Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease COPD Diesel Exhaust Dust Exposure Fumes JEM Job Exposure Matrix Mineral Dusts Occupational Exposure Organic Dusts
• ISSN:
  1351-0711
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Oregon ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  RHD - Respiratory Health Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  290-293
• Volume:
  74
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20048835
• Citation:
  Occup Environ Med 2017 Mar; 74(4):290-293
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr Laura Kurth, Respiratory Health Division, National Institute for Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1095 Willowdale Road, Morgantown, WV 26505
• Email:
  vrz6@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1a22a692d499d7b9d5c2185967b66a159540630016f9f25161c1fc73cb63628048590bd770e7c2e349f247bb5e9f282915d400d4ba49f4f4570d6c31e670da64
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/203464/cdc_203464_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 398.17 KB ]