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. 2024 Jul 10;81(6):313-319.
doi: 10.1136/oemed-2023-108975.

Relationships between asbestos exposure and pleural plaques: dose and time effects using fractional polynomials

Morgane Menant  1 , Ilyes Benlala  2   3 , Isabelle Thaon  4   5 , Pascal Andujar  6   7   8 , Benoist Julia  9 , Patrick Brochard  1   10 , Christos Chouaid  11 , Bénédicte Clin  12   13 , Antoine Gislard  14   15 , Celine Gramond  1 , Christophe Paris  16   17 , Jean-Claude Pairon  6   7   8 , Fleur Delva  18   10
Affiliations

Relationships between asbestos exposure and pleural plaques: dose and time effects using fractional polynomials

Morgane Menant et al. Occup Environ Med. .

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to confirm the relationship between several parameters of exposure to asbestos and pleural plaques (PP) using data from a large cohort of retired workers occupationally exposed to asbestos in France.

Method: A large screening programme, including high-resolution CT (HRCT) examinations at inclusion and two other HRCT campaigns, was organised from 2003 to 2016 in four regions of France for voluntary, formerly asbestos-exposed workers. Exposure to asbestos has been evaluated by industrial hygienists based on the complete work history. The time since first exposure, the time since last exposure, Cumulative Exposure Index and maximum level of exposure to asbestos, were used in logistic regression using fractional polynomials to model the relationship with PP.

Results: The study included 5392 subjects with at least one HRCT available. There was a significant non-linear effect of time since first exposure, time since last exposure and Cumulative Exposure Index to asbestos on the presence of PP. The risk of PP increased with increasing Cumulative Exposure Index to asbestos adjusted for time since first exposure, age and smoking status. Models also show that PP odds rise with increasing time since first exposure adjusted for cumulative index exposure, age and smoking status. PP odds decrease when time since last exposure increases.

Conclusion: The study provides new data on the link between asbestos exposure and the presence of PP using fractional polynomials with non-linear relationships for time exposure parameters and asbestos exposure parameters.

Keywords: Asbestos; Epidemiology; Occupational Health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study flow chart. ARDCO, Asbestos Diseases Cohort; HRCT, high-resolution CT.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Pleural plaques ORs as a function of Cumulative Exposure Index (CEI), reference=25 units-years. Model I: logistic regression model, effect of CEI to asbestos, and time since first exposure to asbestos on presence of pleural plaques, adjusted for age and smoking status, n=5392.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Pleural plaques ORs as a function of time since first exposure (TSFE), reference=10 years. Model I, logistic regression model, effect of cumulative index exposure to asbestos, and time since first exposure to asbestos on presence of pleural plaques, adjusted for age and smoking status, n=5392.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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