Risk of Raynaud's Phenomenon Among Workers in the Occupational Disease Surveillance System

Introduction: Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) is linked to occupational exposures such as vibration, cold temperature, andchemicals. However, large cohort studies examining RP by occupation and sex are scarce. To address this gap, this study aimedto assess risk of RP by both occupation and sex in a large cohort of workers in Ontario, Canada. Methods: Workers with accepted lost-time compensation claims were linked to physician billing records to identify diagnosesof RP between 2002 and 2020. A 3-year washout (disease-free) period was applied, and follow-up was limited to 5 years. Coxproportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for diagnoses of RP,adjusted for age at start of follow-up, birth year, and stratified by sex. Results: A total of 7,131 RP cases were identified among 810,739 workers. Among men, higher risks were observed for truckdrivers (HR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.08-1.41), driver-salesmen (HR = 2.54, 95% CI = 1.21-5.34), those in mining and quarrying-related cutting, handling, and loading (HR = 2.57, 95% CI = 1.29-5.15), and construction trades laboring and elemental work(HR = 1.70, 95% CI = 1.24-2.34). Among women, higher risks were observed for those working in waitressing and related(HR = 1.70, 95% CI = 1.22-2.38), food and beverage preparation (HR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.02-1.76), and electrical equipmentfabricating and assembling (HR 1.96, 95% CI = 1.08-3.55). Conclusion: Study findings show elevated risks of RP among various occupations, with notable differences between men andwomen. These differences may be attributable to variations in potential exposures and susceptibility to RP. Findings underscorethe need for large cohort studies to examine RP across various occupational groups and both sexes.