Trends in the of epidemiological perspectives on the causality of occupational diseases

Myong, Jun‐Pyo; Kim, Hyeongsu; Lee, Kun Sei; Chang, Soo-Ho

doi:10.5124/jkma.2018.61.8.466

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The PC is not a cut-off or absolute value. However, the PC should be interpreted in both medical and legal ways [ 18 46 55 ]. How to use and apply these PCs should be discussed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the MA of 34 studies conducted in 2011, the RRs of shift work for myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke were 1.23 (95% CI: 1.15–1.31) and 1.05 (95% CI: 1.01–1.09) [ 56 ]. Epidemiological evidence did not have a high enough PC, however, considering other social contexts in South Korea, the presumption of disease was applied when exposure to long working hours was confirmed [ 18 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, a retrospective cohort study played an essential role in evaluating work-relatedness between cancers and working in the semiconductor fabrication industry [ 16 ]. There have been previous suggestions by occupational physicians in South Korea to use the causal inference theory [ 17 18 19 ]. In this study, a process for evaluating work-relatedness was suggested with a concrete example in which the workplace was within traditional agriculture, exposure assessment was limited, and previous epidemiological evidence was relatively plentiful.…”

Section: Case Presentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Parkinson's disease in a worker exposed to insecticides at a greenhouse

Kim

Sung

et al. 2021

Ann Occup Environ Med

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Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a rare, neurodegenerative disease with various occupational and environmental risk factors. Exposure to specific pesticides contributes significantly to the incidence of PD. However, it is difficult to measure the level of pesticide exposure in workers. This study presents the first case recognized the work-relatedness between PD and pesticide exposure. Case presentation: A 68-year-old male was diagnosed with PD after working with pesticides at a tomato greenhouse for 12 years and 5 months. From the results of a field study, it was reasonable to assume that the patient had been exposed to a significant level of various insecticides. In the present report, we described the first accepted case of work-relatedness between PD and exposure to pesticides. The evaluation was conducted using the following steps: we ruled out other possible risk factors including additional occupational history and personal risk factors, we assessed the work environment, surveyed possible exposures, found proper epidemiological evidence, and calculated the probability of causation. The workrelatedness was determined through the review of epidemiological evidence and estimation of exposure situation and level, and biological plausibility. We also decided work-relatedness based on the exposure of PD related pesticides with identified biologically plausible and the presumption that the exposure level would be high due to the working process. Conclusions: In this case, the field study and epidemiological results supported the workrelatedness of PD and exposure to pesticides. Moreover, the results of previous studies have confirmed a causal relationship between exposure to pesticides and PD.

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“…The PC is not a cut-off or absolute value. However, the PC should be interpreted in both medical and legal ways [ 18 46 55 ]. How to use and apply these PCs should be discussed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Case Presentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Parkinson's disease in a worker exposed to insecticides at a greenhouse

Kim

Sung

et al. 2021

Ann Occup Environ Med

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The Politics of Science and Undone Protection in the “Samsung Leukemia” Case

Kim

Lim

2020

East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Jo

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A labor health dispute between a multinational corporation and patient-workers in Korea received enormous attention from 2007 to 2018, when it was finally and successfully resolved. Sick workers of Samsung Semiconductor claimed they were contaminated by toxic chemicals at their workplace that resulted in their sickness, a contested illness known as “Samsung leukemia.” In this dispute, the Korean government and Samsung used epistemological studies to deny the workers’ claims. The patient-workers politicized the industrial disease, forming a labor health movement that advocated for workers’ rights and welfare. In this long disputed process, they developed their own bottom-up science that collected evidence from their factories and connected this evidence with the claims of counter-experts. They made done “undone science,” which investigated the relationship between the unknown disease and the semiconductor industry. But the undone science has been constructed in the context of “undone protection” stemming not only from chemical exposure in factories that weigh profit over safety but also from institutional failures to protect and compensate the loss of workers’ lives and health. The successful resolution of the “Samsung leukemia” case depended on a health movement that worked toward getting undone science and undone protection done simultaneously.

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Validity assessment of self-reported smoking status in firefighters using the urine cotinine test

Heo

Byun

Sohn

et al. 2020

Ann Occup Environ Med

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Background: In firefighters, smoking management is important because they are exposed to various harmful substances in their occupational environment. Accurate surveys of smoking status are essential to control tobacco use. The main disadvantage of self-report questionnaires, which are commonly used for investigating smoking status, is the possibility that the subjects' response are invalid. If the validity of firefighters' answers on smoking questionnaires is not adequate, different methods will be needed for investigating smoking status in firefighters. Methods: This study was conducted on 445 male firefighters from 9 fire stations in Daegu (the city in South Korea) who visited a medical institution for medical checkup in 2016. The urine cotinine test strip (DCT-102; CLIAwaived Inc., cutoff value = 200 ng/mL) was used to classify the actual smoking status and to assess the validity of self-reported smoking status on questionnaires. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of the smoking questionnaires were analyzed. Subjects testing positive in the urine cotinine test (assumed the actual current smokers) were selected. The frequency at which actual current smokers were misclassified as current non-smokers by the questionnaire was calculated. Subjects' characteristics were analyzed for possible association with any discrepancy between self-reported smoking status and urine cotinine test results. Results: The smoking rates among firefighters surveyed using the smoking questionnaire and the urine cotinine test were 22.47% and 51.24%, respectively. Of the all subjects, 29.66% (n = 132) were misclassified. The sensitivity of the smoking questionnaire was 42.98%, the specificity was 99.08%, the PPV was 98.00%, and the NPV was 62.32%. In the 228 subjects classified as current actual smokers by the urine cotinine test, 57.02% (n = 130) were misclassified on the questionnaire. The misclassification rate increased with age. The degree of misclassification also increased when subjects had a history of disease. Conclusions: In present study, the validity of the smoking questionnaire for firefighters was not suitable for investigating smoking status due to low sensitivity. To increase the validity of smoking status monitoring in firefighters, consideration of the various factors like survey environment, subjects' characteristics, and occupational factors is needed.

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Trends in the of epidemiological perspectives on the causality of occupational diseases

Cited by 4 publications

References 10 publications

Parkinson's disease in a worker exposed to insecticides at a greenhouse

Parkinson's disease in a worker exposed to insecticides at a greenhouse

The Politics of Science and Undone Protection in the “Samsung Leukemia” Case

Validity assessment of self-reported smoking status in firefighters using the urine cotinine test

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