Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Mar;77(3):142-150.
doi: 10.1136/oemed-2019-106013.

Global and regional burden of chronic respiratory disease in 2016 arising from non-infectious airborne occupational exposures: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

GBD 2016 Occupational Chronic Respiratory Risk Factors Collaborators; GBD 2016 occupational chronic respiratory risk factors collaborators
Collaborators

Global and regional burden of chronic respiratory disease in 2016 arising from non-infectious airborne occupational exposures: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

GBD 2016 Occupational Chronic Respiratory Risk Factors Collaborators et al. Occup Environ Med. 2020 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: This paper presents detailed analysis of the global and regional burden of chronic respiratory disease arising from occupational airborne exposures, as estimated in the Global Burden of Disease 2016 study.

Methods: The burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) due to occupational exposure to particulate matter, gases and fumes, and secondhand smoke, and the burden of asthma resulting from occupational exposure to asthmagens, was estimated using the population attributable fraction (PAF), calculated using exposure prevalence and relative risks from the literature. PAFs were applied to the number of deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for COPD and asthma. Pneumoconioses were estimated directly from cause of death data. Age-standardised rates were based only on persons aged 15 years and above.

Results: The estimated PAFs (based on DALYs) were 17% (95% uncertainty interval (UI) 14%-20%) for COPD and 10% (95% UI 9%-11%) for asthma. There were estimated to be 519 000 (95% UI 441,000-609,000) deaths from chronic respiratory disease in 2016 due to occupational airborne risk factors (COPD: 460,100 [95% UI 382,000-551,000]; asthma: 37,600 [95% UI 28,400-47,900]; pneumoconioses: 21,500 [95% UI 17,900-25,400]. The equivalent overall burden estimate was 13.6 million (95% UI 11.9-15.5 million); DALYs (COPD: 10.7 [95% UI 9.0-12.5] million; asthma: 2.3 [95% UI 1.9-2.9] million; pneumoconioses: 0.58 [95% UI 0.46-0.67] million). Rates were highest in males; older persons and mainly in Oceania, Asia and sub-Saharan Africa; and decreased from 1990 to 2016.

Conclusions: Workplace exposures resulting in COPD, asthma and pneumoconiosis continue to be important contributors to the burden of disease in all regions of the world. This should be reducible through improved prevention and control of relevant exposures.

Keywords: COPD; occupational asthma; occupational exposure; pneumoconiosis; work.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: CATA reports personal fees from Johnson & Johnson (Philippines), Inc., outside the submitted work. NK reports personal fees from Junpukai Foundation and Softbank, Co.; and grants from Fujitsu, LTD, Fujitsu Software Technologies, LTD and Softbank, Co., outside the submitted work. JK reports grants from Merck Pharmaceuticals, outside the submitted work. TJM reports grants from Cancer Foundation Finland sr., during the conduct of the study.

Comment in

  • Commentary.
    Kromhout H, van Tongeren M, Peters CE, Hall AL. Kromhout H, et al. Occup Environ Med. 2020 Aug;77(8):513-514. doi: 10.1136/oemed-2020-106624. Epub 2020 Jun 12. Occup Environ Med. 2020. PMID: 32532844 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

References

    1. Fishwick D, Sen D, Barber C, et al. . Occupational chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a standard of care. Occup Med 2015;65:270–82.10.1093/occmed/kqv019 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Omland Øyvind, Würtz ET, Aasen TB, et al. . Occupational chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic literature review. Scand J Work Environ Health 2014;40:19–35.10.5271/sjweh.3400 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tarlo S, Malo J. Fourth jack Pepys workshop on asthma in the workplace participants. An official American thoracic Society proceedings: work-related asthma and airway diseases. presentations and discussion from the fourth jack Pepys workshop on asthma in the workplace. Ann Am Thorac Soc 2013;10:S17–S2. - PubMed
    1. Blanc PD. Occupation and COPD: a brief review. J Asthma 2012;49:2–4.10.3109/02770903.2011.611957 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Blanc PD, Iribarren C, Trupin L, et al. . Occupational exposures and the risk of COPD: dusty trades revisited. Thorax 2009;64:6–12.10.1136/thx.2008.099390 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms