Shift work is a common occupational exposure, however, few studies have examined aspects of shift work beyond night work and long hours, such as rotational patterns or weekend work, which may contribute to poor health through disruption of the body's circadian rhythms. In this manuscript, we calculated the prevalence of working hour characteristics using algorithms for type (e.g., day), duration, intensity, rotational direction, and social aspects (e.g., weekend work) in a nationwide cohort of American manufacturing workers (N = 23,044) between 2003 and 2014. Distributions of working...
Introduction: United States emergency departments (ED) visit rates for nonfatal self-harm increased by 42% from 2001 to 2016. Previous suicide mortality research has provided conflicting evidence on the use of suicide-related Internet searches as a surveillance tool for self-harm and suicidal ideation. However, few have used rigorous approaches to account for autocorrelation at the aggregate level, and none have focused on Internet searches related to suicide prevention.
Methods and results: Over a 9-year study period (2007-2015), suicidality-...
Wildfires have become more frequent and intense due to climate change and outdoor wildfire fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations differ from relatively smoothly varying total PM2.5. Thus, we introduced a conceptual model for computing long-term wildfire PM2.5 and assessed disproportionate exposures among marginalized communities. We used monitoring data and statistical techniques to characterize annual wildfire PM2.5 exposure based on intermittent and extreme daily...
Background: Diesel exhaust and respirable dust exposures in the mining industry have not been studied in depth with respect to non-malignant respiratory disease including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with most available evidence coming from other settings.
Objectives: To assess the relationship between occupational diesel exhaust and respirable dust exposures and COPD mortality, while addressing issues of survivor bias in exposed miners.
Methods: The study population consisted of 11,817 male workers from the...
Suicides, overdoses, and drug-related liver diseases (deaths of despair) are greatly elevated in the mining and extraction industries compared to other industries. To better understand the drivers of these deaths, we examined suicide or overdose mortality in relation to age at worker exit among a retrospective cohort of 11,009 male mine workers from the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study II.
Methods:
We calculated age-adjusted mortality rates (1947–2015) and estimated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) for suicide or overdose death in relation to...
Objectives: In recent decades, risk of job loss in America after age 50 has been high, potentially causing significant stress during the period preceding retirement. Yet no study has quantified the burden of clinically relevant depressive symptoms attributable to job loss in this age group over this period or identified the most vulnerable populations.
Methods: Participants aged 50+ in the Health and Retirement Study (recruited 1992-2016) who were employed and scored <5 on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression 8-item scale (CESD-8) at...
Background.—Structural racism’s influence on workforce policies and practices presents possible upstream targets for assessing and reducing racial health disparities. This study is the first to examine workforce racial diversity in association with racial disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes.
Methods.—This retrospective cohort study of 39,693 hourly autoworkers from three Michigan automobile plants, includes 75 years of follow-up (1941–2015). Workforce racial diversity (percent Black autoworkers) was a plant and year level variable. Annual exposure was cumulated over...
Background: Coccidioidomycosis, caused by inhalation of Coccidioides spp. spores, is an emerging infectious disease that is increasing in incidence throughout the southwestern US. The pathogen is soil-dwelling, and spore dispersal and human exposure are thought to co-occur with airborne mineral dust exposures, yet fundamental exposure-response relationships have not been conclusively estimated.
Objectives: We estimated associations between fine mineral dust concentration and coccidioidomycosis incidence in California from 2000 to 2017 at the census...
The parametric g-formula is a causal inference method that appropriately adjusts for time-varying confounding affected by prior exposure. Like all parametric methods, it assumes correct model specification, usually assessed by comparing the observed outcome with the simulated outcome under no intervention (natural course). However, it is unclear how to evaluate natural course performance and whether other variables should also be considered. We reviewed current practices for evaluating model misspecification in applications of parametric g-formula. To illustrate the pitfalls of...
The natural distributions of ambient air pollutants are often correlated. Existing studies have found that exposures to various air pollutants are associated with elevated risks of asthma symptoms among children. However, most studies applied single-pollutant models, which cannot distinguish between causal effects and associations due to correlations with other measured or unmeasured pollutants. Objective Investigate air pollutant mixtures and child asthma symptoms and identify key risk factors. Methods The Children’s Health and Air Pollution Study (CHAPS) recruited 299...
