Greek employee awareness of carcinogenic exposure

Our plain-English summary of Greek employee awareness of carcinogenic exposure, by C. Chatzis, K. Karvounis, P. Hatziara, et al (Preventive Medicine, 2004).

The study

• Authors: C. Chatzis, K. Karvounis, P. Hatziara, E. Riza, V. Nikolaou, A. Linos
• Journal: Preventive Medicine
• Published: 2004;39(4):657-65
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Background: Occupational risk factors contribute significantly to the development of lung cancer; however, little is known about the extent to which employees are informed of occupational exposure to carcinogenic substances.

Methods: Through a case-control study, we estimated the level of awareness among Greek employees potentially exposed to known carcinogenic substances within various occupational settings.

Results: Only 6.6% of men (n = 482) employed in occupations with potential exposure to carcinogenic substances were aware of such occupational exposures. Age, education, and residence were significantly associated with awareness. Employees having at least a secondary level of education were 3.5 times more aware than those having at most 6 years of educational training.

Conclusions: Assessing awareness among workers potentially exposed to occupational risk factors and promoting occupational health education are important steps for increasing health and safety at the workplace.

In plain English

This study used interviews from an earlier lung cancer case-control study of 776 people at three Athens hospitals in 1987–1988. Two occupational physicians judged which jobs involved potential exposure to IARC-listed lung carcinogens; participants said whether they knew of it. Of 482 men in such jobs, 32 (6.6%) were aware. No exposed women were aware; too few took part to analyse them. Of 306 men with potential asbestos exposure, 13 (4.2%) were aware. After adjustment, men with at least secondary education were more aware than men with at most 6 years of schooling (adjusted odds ratio 2.8, 95% CI 1.27–6.13). So were men who had lived in Athens at least a year versus those who had not (2.6, 95% CI 1.12–6.12). Older men were less likely (0.94 per year, 95% CI 0.91–0.98). Excluding agriculture, commercial driving and construction, the authors found only age associated with awareness, a borderline result (0.96, 95% CI 0.92–1.0, P = 0.051). Lung cancer, smoking and work-related illness were not significantly linked to awareness. The authors concluded that assessing awareness and promoting occupational health education are important steps for workplace safety.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Analysis of interview data on awareness of workplace carcinogen exposure, drawn from an earlier hospital-based case-control study of lung cancer
• Who was studied: 776 people (62 women, 714 men; 282 lung cancer cases and controls) were interviewed at three university hospitals in Athens, Greece, in 1987–1988. The analysis covered the 482 men judged to have worked with potential exposure to carcinogens.
• Exposure: Potential workplace exposure to substances implicated in lung cancer by the IARC, as judged by occupational physicians. These included asbestos (no fiber type given), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, arsenic, nickel, chromium, bis(chloromethyl) ether, chlorodimethyl ether, vinyl chloride, smog and tar.
• Main results:
  • Of 482 men employed with potential exposure to carcinogenic substances, 32 (6.6%) were aware of it. None of the exposed women were aware.
  • Of 306 men in work settings involving asbestos exposure, 13 (4.2%) were aware of potential exposure to asbestos.
  • Awareness of asbestos exposure by occupation: 1.3% of 149 construction workers, none of 58 commercial drivers, none of 25 textile workers, and 9.0% of 23 shipyard workers.
  • Men with at least a secondary level of education were more likely to be aware than men with at most 6 years of schooling: unadjusted OR 3.5 (95% CI 1.7–7.3); adjusted OR 2.8 (95% CI 1.27–6.13).
  • In the full analysis, older men were less likely to be aware: adjusted OR 0.94 (95% CI 0.91–0.98) per year of age.
  • Men who had lived in Athens for at least 1 year were more likely to be aware than men who had not: adjusted OR 2.6 (95% CI 1.12–6.12).
  • Men with lung cancer (adjusted OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.33–1.56) and men who had ever smoked (adjusted OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.26–1.23) were less likely to be aware, but these differences were not statistically significant.
  • Of 16 exposed men who reported a work-related illness, 15 (94%) were unaware of potential exposure.
  • When agriculture, commercial driving and construction were excluded, the authors reported that only age was associated with awareness. The adjusted result was borderline: OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.92–1.0, with P = 0.051 in Table 4. In that analysis, education (adjusted OR 1.90, 95% CI 0.7–4.61) and Athens residence (adjusted OR 1.63, 95% CI 0.64–4.17) were not significantly associated.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that assessing awareness among workers potentially exposed to occupational risk factors, and promoting occupational health education, are important steps for increasing health and safety at the workplace.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Few women were recruited, so the analysis was restricted to men, which may limit how far the results apply to others.
  • There were too few workers in each occupation to tell whether employers were failing to inform workers or workers were not paying attention to warnings.
  • Exposure was considered difficult to assess in agriculture, commercial driving and construction, so a separate analysis excluding these occupations was run.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Carcinogenic, Lung Cancer, Occupational Exposure, Case-Control Study.

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