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Patterns of asbestosis in New Jersey
Author(s) -
Henneberger Paul K.,
Stanbury Martha J.
Publication year - 1992
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.4700210509
Subject(s) - asbestosis , medicine , asbestos , demography , white (mutation) , population , black female , epidemiology , black male , environmental health , gender studies , biochemistry , chemistry , materials science , lung , sociology , metallurgy , gene
Hospital discharge data from New Jersey were used to identify cases of asbestosis for the 8 years 1979–1986. Multiple admissions were deleted so that each individual was counted once at the time of his/her first hospitalization with an asbestosis diagnosis. White males had the highest age‐adjusted average annual discharge rate of 19.3 cases/100,000 population, followed by black males (12.3 cases/100,000) and white females (1.2 cases/100,000). The discharge rate was positively associated with age in each race/sex category. The relationship between rates for black males and white males depended on age: under 65 years, the rates were almost equal, and at 65 years and older, the white rates were nearly twice the black rates. There were two areas of the state where the rates were highest: the north‐central and southwest regions. These two areas represent manufacturing and shipbuilding applications of asbestos, respectively. During the years 1979–1986, the annual percentage increase in asbestosis rates was 20% for white males, 17% for black males, and 8% for white females. Continued surveillance will reveal when the rates for asbestosis stop increasing. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.