The Impact of Job Loss on Self-Injury Mortality in a Cohort of Autoworkers: Application of a Novel Causal Approach

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chen KT ; Dufault SM ; Eisen EA ; Neophytou AM ; Picciotto S
• Description:
  Background: Recent increases in national rates of suicide and fatal overdose have been linked to a deterioration of economic and social stability. The American auto industry experienced comparable pressures beginning in the 1980s with the emergence of a competitive global market. Methods: Using the United Autoworkers-General Motors (GM) cohort as a case study, we examine the impact of employment loss on these self-injury mortality events. For 29,538 autoworkers employed on or after 1 January 1970, we apply incremental propensity score interventions, a novel causal inference approach, to examine how proportional shifts in the odds of leaving active GM employment affect the cumulative incidence of self-injury mortality. Results: Cumulative incidence of self-injury mortality was 0.87% (255 cases) at the observed odds of leaving active GM employment (d = 1) over a 45-year period. A 10% decrease in the odds of leaving active GM employment (d = 0.9) results in an estimated 8% drop in self-injury mortality (234 cases) while a 10% increase (d = 1.1) results in a 19% increase in self-injury mortality (303 cases). Conclusions: These results are consistent with the hypothesis that leaving active employment at GM increases the risk of death due to suicide or drug overdose. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Automobiles Cohort Studies Economics Epidemiology Mental Health Mortality Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Substance-Related Disorders Suicide

  More +
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Autoworkers Automotive Industry Cohort Studies Drug Abuse Economic Consequences Fatal Drug Overdose Incremental Shifts Job Loss Mental Health Mortality Rates Nonparametric Propensity Score Unemployment

  More +
• ISSN:
  1044-3983
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Colorado ; OSHA Region 8 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  386-394
• Volume:
  33
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20067928
• Citation:
  Epidemiology 2022 May; 33(3):386-394
• Contact Point Address:
  Suzanne M. Dufault, Division of Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, 2121 Berkeley Way, Room 5302, Berkeley, CA 94720-7360
• Email:
  sdufault@berkeley.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, Berkeley
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Epidemiology
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:170628d4ae07bdd61af60a900061b02b009a6aa880b1c1bd0c20a40289f607eef614ecf7572a47c9eec9008bf075b92c3fd8bc29ede11299e8e390322bb5ce3c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/230162/cdc_230162_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 572.02 KB ]