Identifying Key Data Gaps and Promoting Intervention in Work-Related Chronic Disease: The NIOSH Chronic Disease Program

Details

• Personal Author:
  Anderson, Kern E. ; McKernan L ; Shockey T ; Stueckle, Todd A. ; Velazquez-Kronen, Raquel
• Description:
  Background and Purpose: In 2016, the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) entered its third decade in efforts to reduce occupational injury and disease through innovative research and workplace interventions. As a steward of NORA, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) embraced this research framework by creating 10 economic sectors and 7 cross sectors focused on major health areas for research goals in its strategic plan through FY26. The NIOSH Cancer, Reproductive, Cardiovascular, and Other Chronic Disease Prevention Program (CRC) provides leadership by working with industry, labor, trade, professional, and academic partners to reduce and prevent occupational cancer, adverse reproductive outcomes (ARO), cardiovascular disease (CVD), neurological, and renal diseases associated with work. The CRC listed 36 research activity goals with 75% of these focused on workplace chemical exposures and resulting chronic disease. The main objective of the current study was to conduct a review of CRC-focused projects, outputs, and NORA Council dissemination activities to ascertain CRC program performance and assist informing the next round of research goals. Methods: To accomplish this, a review of CRC-focused projects across each major economic sector through NIOSH was conducted for FY17-FY22. The number of projects, peer-reviewed published studies, citations, and known intermediate outcomes citing CRC research were tabulated and summarized. To improve dissemination efforts, the external NORA CRC Council formed disease-focused working groups to provide expertise, insight, and guidance to inform workplace intervention strategies to key stakeholders. Results: As of December 2022, 289 projects were funded across 35 activity goals within 7 industry sectors, with 20% of projects through the Office of Extramural Program. Cancer-related projects represented 39% of activity goals with CVD, ARO, and Neuro/Renal taking 20% each. Manufacturing and Public Safety Sectors represented 33% and 20% of funded projects with remaining sectors ranging 3-13%. NIOSH CRC affiliated researchers published 539 peer-reviewed papers with 273 covering CRC topic areas. Papers primarily focused on cancer (33%), CVD (32%), and neurological (30%) disease. From 2012 to 2022, IARC cited at least one NIOSH study 78.2 +/- 6.3 % of the time per evaluation with 21.3 +/- 9.1 evaluations per year. NORA CRC Council work groups produced several webinars with archiving on CDC Youtube. A webinar on the Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress Study gained >2,490 views in 20 months with most views occurring in first 6 months. A webinar on occupational physical activity paradox and cardiovascular disease received >2000 views in 3 months. Translation of several blogs and NIOSH infographics into Spanish, Korean, and Vietnamese for underserved worker populations with high chronic disease burden resulted in 143-1,115 page views in 2022. Updates to the Occupational Cardiovascular Disease Wikipedia website produced an increase in views to 1,513 in the first 9 months over 1,300 in 2022. Key data gaps with significant high burden remain including work organization impacts on cancer and CVD in healthcare workers, AROs in service workers, and CVD in service workers. Emerging issues of concern were identified including exposure to novel halogenated products and resulting bioeffects, future of work issues, neurologic and renal diseases, welding fumes without exposure limits, reproductive outcomes in manufacturing workers, effects of stress, shift, and gig work, improved exposure assessments, and impacts of climate change. Conclusions: Review of the CRC Program identified positive gains in addressing occupational chemical exposures and associated cancer and CVD burden and knowledge gaps, while ARO, neurological, and renal disease issues remain as research challenges to address. Furthermore, opportunities for further research in service, healthcare, and transportation/warehouse sectors that include future of work issues was evident. NIOSH encourages project officers to improve study designs and to consider diversity, equity, and inclusion factors. Lastly, implementation of NORA CRC Council disease working groups improved dissemination of intervention strategies to key stakeholders. This exercise serves to inform development of the next priority research goals, assist in refining dissemination techniques to increase intermediate outcomes, and promote intervention and prevention strategies to reduce work-related chronic disease. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Chronic Disease Neoplasms Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Urogenital System
• Keywords:
  Cancer Cardiovascular Disease Chronic Diseases Information Dissemination Occupational Exposure Reproductive Health
• ISSN:
  1096-6080
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division ; RHD - Respiratory Health Division ; DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  198
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069319
• Citation:
  Toxicologist 2024 Mar; 198(S1):183
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  The Toxicologist. Society of Toxicology 63rd Annual Meeting & ToxExpo, March 10-14, 2024, Salt Lake City, Utah
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1a8c8386d11e454d738e5f0fd1b1dc86b092ed791b9be71149453d6ff1635a848ef1791256cf20e7ca9d36c21b684ab4d09b221993fd0781076d93fa953645d2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/207819/cdc_207819_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 519.72 KB ]