Prevalence of radiographic appearance of pneumoconiosis in an unexposed blue collar population
Blue collar employees currently working in environments free from exposure to respiratory hazards were examined with chest radiography and a standard occupational history questionnaire. Workers who had worked for a total of 5 yr or more in previous jobs with possible hazardous respiratory exposures were excluded. Each radiograph was read independently by 3 NIOSH-certified ''B'' readers. For small opacities, the median profusion was accepted as a summary reading. The 1,422 readable films represented a population of 50.6% males, 49.4% females, 52.5% whites, 44.2% blacks, 47.0% current smokers, and 38.5% nonsmokers. The mean age was 33.8 yr, with a range from 16 to 70 yr. Small opacities of profusion greater than or equal to 1/0 were identified in only 3 (0.21%) of the radiographs--2 with small rounded opacities and 1 with small irregular opacities. Small irregular opacities of profusion category greater than or equal to 0/1 were statistically associated with age, gender, and pack-years of smoking. The results suggest that using the median of 3 independent readings should rarely result in interpretation of chest radiographs as ''positive'' for pneumoconiosis in active workers who have not had significant dust exposure.
- OSTI ID:
- 5029069
- Journal Information:
- Am. Rev. Respir. Dis.; (United States), Vol. 5
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
CHEST
BIOMEDICAL RADIOGRAPHY
PNEUMOCONIOSES
DIAGNOSIS
AGE DEPENDENCE
DUSTS
NIOSH
OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE
PERSONNEL
SEX DEPENDENCE
TOBACCO SMOKES
WEST VIRGINIA
AEROSOLS
BODY
BODY AREAS
COLLOIDS
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
DISEASES
DISPERSIONS
FEDERAL REGION III
MEDICINE
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR MEDICINE
RADIOLOGY
RESIDUES
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DISEASES
SMOKES
SOLS
US ORGANIZATIONS
USA
550602* - Medicine- External Radiation in Diagnostics- (1980-)