Smoking, occupational exposure and mortality in workers in Guangzhou, China.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the mortality risk of smoking and overall occupational exposure in Guangzhou, China.


METHODS
Baseline data on smoking and occupational exposure of 82159 workers aged 30+ were retrieved from medical records established in 1988-92. Vital status and causes of death were followed through 1998.


RESULTS
During follow-up 1584 workers had died. Adjusted relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) for ever-smoking in men was 1.23 (1.07-1.41) for total deaths, 1.43 (1.17-1.74) for all cancer, 3.77 (2.31-6.14) for lung cancer and 2.54 (1.09-5.92) for stomach cancer (all showing significant linear trends with amount and duration of smoking). The RR in women of 1.10 (0.59-2.06) for total deaths and 1.60 (0.65-3.92) for all cancer were positive but not significant. No significant excess mortality risk was observed for occupational exposure in each gender. In both genders combined, the RR for total deaths was 1.23 (1.08-1.40) for smoking and 1.07 (0.96-1.19) for occupational exposure. If the relationships were causal, 12% of all deaths could be attributed to smoking but only 3% to occupational exposure.


CONCLUSIONS
Smoking was more predictive of premature deaths than overall occupational exposures in middle aged workers. Smoking cessation should be a top priority in occupational health practice.
Ho
Sai Yin
SY
Department of Community Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Lam
Tai Hing
TH
Jiang
Chao Qiang
CQ
Zhang
Wei Sen
WS
Liu
Wei Wei
WW
He
Jian Min
JM
Hedley
Anthony Jonathan
AJ
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D002423:Cause of Death; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors