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The global burden of selected occupational diseases and injury risks: Methodology and summary
Author(s) -
Nelson Deborah Imel,
ConchaBarrientos Marisol,
Driscoll Timothy,
Steenland Kyle,
Fingerhut Marilyn,
Punnett Laura,
PrüssÜstün Annette,
Leigh James,
Corvalan Carlos
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.20211
Subject(s) - medicine , environmental health , asthma , copd , disability adjusted life year , population , attributable risk , occupational safety and health , occupational disease , disease burden , occupational lung disease , occupational injury , risk assessment , occupational exposure , injury prevention , poison control , pathology , computer security , computer science
Background Around the globe, work has a heavy impact on health. To better advise policy makers, we assessed the global burden of disease and injury due to selected occupational hazards. This article presents an overview, and describes the methodology employed in the companion studies. Methods Using the World Health Organization (WHO) Comparative Risk Assessment methodology, we applied relative risk measures to the proportions of the population exposed to selected occupational hazards to estimate attributable fractions, deaths, and disability‐adjusted life years (DALYs). Numerous occupational risk factors had to be excluded due to inadequate global data. Results In 2000, the selected risk factors were responsible worldwide for 37% of back pain, 16% of hearing loss, 13% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 11% of asthma, 8% of injuries, 9% of lung cancer, and 2% of leukemia. These risks at work caused 850,000 deaths worldwide and resulted in the loss of about 24 million years of healthy life. Needlesticks accounted for about 40% of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C infections and 4.4% of HIV infections in health care workers. Conclusions Exposure to occupational hazards accounts for a significant proportion of the global burden of disease and injury, which could be substantially reduced through application of proven risk prevention strategies. Am. J. Ind. Med. 48:400–418, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.