Mortality patterns by occupation in a cohort of electric utility workers

Background Mortality patterns were examined in a United States cohort of 138,905 male electric utility workers from five companies to help interpret previous studies of health effects in this industry. Methods Using Poisson regression techniques, internal cohort analyses examined total mortality, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in relation to duration of employment in each of nineteen occupational categories which comprise utility operations. Results Relative to workers who were never involved in utility operations (e.g., administrative workers), mortality rate ratios among operations workers were higher for total mortality, cardiovascular disease, and total cancer Lung cancer risk was consistently elevated, whereas increased mortality for other cancers was less consistent. Conclusions The results of this study indicate excess risk of total mortality, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers among electric utility workers, which could be related to both occupational and non-occupational risk factors. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.