Occupations and Parkinson's disease: a multi-center case-control study in South Korea.
OBJECTIVE
We performed a hospital based case-control study in South Korea (1) to clarify the role of occupational exposure, and especially manganese (Mn) exposure in the etiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) and (2) to discover the association between any occupations and PD.


METHODS
We selected two groups, PD patient group (N1) and controls (N2). Three hundred sixty-seven consecutive outpatients with PD (177 men, 190 women) and 309 controls were interviewed about life style, past history, family history, education level, and occupational history etc. We employed a range of industrial categories as defined by section (the most broad category) and division (sub-category) of the Korea Standard Industry Code (KSIC) Manual. Along with KSIC, we also used the Korea Standard Classification of Occupations (KSCO) as proxies of occupational exposure. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusted for age, sex, smoking status, and education level are presented.


RESULTS
As regarding the exposure to hazardous materials, especially Mn, more subjects in the control group than the PD patient group have worked in the occupations with potential exposure to Mn (P < 0.001). Ever having worked in 'agriculture, hunting, and forestry' section of industry was positively associated with PD (OR 1.88), and 'agriculture production crops (OR 1.96)' division of industry was positively associated with PD. On the other hand, ever having worked in the 'manufacturing (OR 0.56)', 'transportation (OR 0.28)' section of industry, and 'transporting (OR 0.20)' division of industry were negatively associated with PD. 'Drivers (OR 0.13)' division of occupation also was negatively associated with PD.


CONCLUSIONS
To our knowledge, this is the first case-control studies to find an inverse relationship between 'transporting' or 'technicians like machinery engineers' as his/her longest job and PD risk. Because of this unexpected finding, our work should be replicated in various populations.
Park
Jungsun
J
Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, Incheon, South Korea.
Yoo
Cheol-In
CI
Sim
Chang Sun
CS
Kim
Hyo Kyung
HK
Kim
Jae Woo
JW
Jeon
Beom S
BS
Kim
Ki-Rak
KR
Bang
Oh-Young
OY
Lee
Won-Yong
WY
Yi
Yunjeong
Y
Jung
Kap-Yeol
KY
Chung
Soo-Eun
SE
Kim
Yangho
Y
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D015386:Hazardous Substances; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D009790:Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014881:Water Supply
D015386:Hazardous Substances