Open AccessPOSSIBLE OCCUPATIONAL LUNG CANCER IN NEPAL
Author(s) -
Sunil Kumar Joshi,
B E Moen,
M Bratveit
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of nepal medical association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.176
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1815-672X
pISSN - 0028-2715
DOI - 10.31729/jnma.709
Subject(s) - medicine , habit , lung cancer , logistic regression , demography , cigarette smoking , confidence interval , environmental health , alcohol consumption , alcohol , psychology , biochemistry , chemistry , sociology , psychotherapist
ABSTRACTThe objective of this study was to describe the relationship between occupational exposures and thedevelopment of lung cancer among the patients attending Bhaktapur Cancer Care Center, Bhaktapur,Nepal. The study subjects consisted of 85 cases of lung cancer and a reference group of 40 cases of coloncancer. Demographic data and information about work history was obtained by a structured interview.Based on the occupational history, subjects were divided into exposed and non-exposed groups concerningcarcinogenic agents. Exposure prone occupations like agriculture, construction of buildings, construction ofroads and bridges, manufacturing, and transport were categorised as exposed occupations. Similarly,occupations like administrative services, business, student and housewives were categorised as non-exposed.Odd ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using logistic regression. Adjustmentsfor smoking habit, life long cigarette consumption (smoking pack year), alcohol habit, education level andage were done. The crude OR for the exposed workers was 5.59 (95% CI: 2.47,12.6). After adjustment forsmoking habit alone or for smoking habit, smoking pack year, alcohol habit, education level and age, theOR was 4.8 (95% CI: 2.02,11.4) and 4.2 (95% CI: 1.4,12.0), respectively.The study shows that for the exposed workers there was an increased risk of lung cancer. The risk wassignificantly increased also after adjusting for smoking habit, smoking pack year, alcohol habit, age andeducation level.Key Words: Lung Cancer, occupation, exposure, Nepal.