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Radiographic abnormalities and duration of employment in Western Australian iron‐ore miners
Author(s) -
Musk A. William,
Cookson William O.C.,
Klerk Nicholas H.,
Morgan William K.C.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1988.tb133732.x
Subject(s) - abnormality , pneumoconiosis , radiography , medicine , duration (music) , scale (ratio) , surgery , geography , pathology , cartography , psychiatry , art , literature
Plain chest radiographs of 788 Pilbara iron‐ore miners from Western Australia have been examined by two independent observers for evidence of pneumoconiosis. The prevalence of any radiographic abnormality (a profusion grade of 0/1 or greater on the International Labour Office [ILO] scale) was 6.7% for Reader 1 and 9.9% for Reader 2. The prevalence of a definite radiographic abnormality (a profusion grade of 1/0 or greater on the ILO scale) was 1.9% for Reader 1 and 2.8% for Reader 2. The prevalence of any abnormality, as identified by either or by both observers, was significantly related to age. The relationship between a radiographic abnormality and the duration of employment was less clear. The results indicate a need for more detailed and comprehensive studies of the effects of ironore dust in this industry.