Malignant mesothelioma is an infrequent neoplasm that usually arises from the lining cells of the pleural and peritoneal cavities. According to the evidence, asbestos is the most significant risk factor of mesothelioma 1,2 ; the cumulative lifetime risk of developing the disease in the absence of exposure to asbestos, has been estimated to be approximately 3 in 10,000. 3 Recent epidemiological studies have focused on additional possible causal factors of mesothelioma, including asbestiform mineral fibers (erionite; fluoroadenine); carbon nanotubes; chronic serous inflammation; and ionizing radiation. 4
BackgroundRecent research has suggested that wide international variation in the prevalence of disabling regional pain among working populations is driven largely by factors predisposing to musculoskeletal pain in general and not specific to individual anatomical sites. We sought to confirm this finding, using data from an independent source.MethodsUsing data from the fifth (2010) and sixth (2015) European Working Conditions Surveys, we explored correlations between the one-year prevalence of pain in the back and neck/upper limb among people of working age across 33 European countries, and between changes in pain prevalence at the two anatomical sites from 2010 to 2015.ResultsEach survey recruited ≥1000 participants per country, response rates ranging from 11 to 78%. In 2010, the estimated one-year population prevalence of back pain ranged from 23% in Ireland to 66% in Portugal, and that of pain in the neck/upper limb from 25% in Ireland to 69% in Finland, the prevalence of pain at the two anatomical sites being correlated across the 33 countries (r = 0.42). A similar pattern was apparent in 2015. For back pain, the percentage change in prevalence from 2010 to 2015 varied from − 41.4% (Hungary) to + 29.6% (Ireland), with a mean across countries of − 3.0%. For neck/upper limb pain, the variation was from − 41.0% (Hungary) to + 44.1% (Romania), with an average of − 0.1%. There was a strong correlation across countries in the change in pain prevalence at the two anatomical sites (r = 0.85).ConclusionsOur findings accord with the hypothesis that international variation in common pain complaints is importantly driven by factors that predispose to musculoskeletal pain in general.
Background Recent findings indicate that wide international variation in the prevalence of disabling regional musculoskeletal pain among working populations is driven by unidentified factors predisposing to pain at multiple anatomical sites. As a step towards identification of those factors, it would be helpful to know whether the prevalence of multisite pain changes when people migrate between countries with differing rates of symptoms; and if so, whether the change is apparent in first generation migrants, and by what age it becomes manifest. Methods To address these questions, we analysed data from an earlier interview-based cross-sectional survey, which assessed the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and risk factors in six groups of workers distinguished by the nature of their work (non-manual or manual) and their country of residence and ethnicity (UK white, UK of Indian subcontinental origin and Indian in India). Prevalence odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by logistic regression. Results Among 814 participants (response rate 95.4%), 20.6% reported pain at ≥3 anatomical sites. This outcome was much less frequent in Indian manual workers than among white non-manual workers in the UK (adjusted OR 0.06, 95%CI 0.01–0.36), while rates in Indian non-manual workers were intermediate (OR 0.29, 95%CI 0.12–0.72). However, within the UK, there were only small differences between white non-manual workers and the other occupational groups, including those of Indian sub-continental origin. This applied even when analysis was restricted to participants aged 17 to 34 years, and when second and later generation migrants were excluded. Conclusions The observed differences in the prevalence of multisite pain seem too large to be explained by healthy worker selection or errors in recall, and there was no indication of bias from differences in understanding of the term, pain. Our findings suggest that whatever drives the higher prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in the UK than India is environmental rather than genetic, affects multiple anatomical sites, begins to act by fairly early in adult life, and has impact soon after people move from India to the UK. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12891-019-2494-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Background While an association between exposure to diesel exhaust (DE) and risk of lung cancer has been reported in several studies, its interaction with tobacco smoking in determining lung cancer risk is not well characterized. This study aims at performing a systematic review and meta-analysis of results of epidemiology studies on this. Methods Studies included in the systematic review were identified from PubMed, Scopus, and Embase, without limitation of year of publication or language. Two reviewers independently reviewed the studies and abstracted relevant data from selected studies, applied a customized quality assessment tool and calculated the relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the interaction between DE exposure and tobacco smoking on a multiplicative scale. Next, a random-effects meta-analysis of the interaction RR was conducted. ResultsSeven studies were included in the metaanalysis, of which two were cohort and five case-control studies. Results on the interaction were heterogeneous (I 2 = 45.6%). The summary RR for interaction was 0.79 (95% CI, 0.42-1.46). There was no indication of publication bias. There was no increased risk of lung cancer among non-smoking workers exposed to DE. ConclusionsThis meta-analysis suggested a lessthan-multiplicative effect between DE exposure and tobacco smoking in determining lung cancer risk, but the hypothesis of multiplicative interaction cannot be rejected. The small number of relevant studies and the high heterogeneity among them prevent from definite conclusions.
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