Non-malignant occupational respiratory diseases in Germany in comparison with those of other countries

Our plain-English summary of Non-malignant occupational respiratory diseases in Germany in comparison with those of other countries, by X. Baur, U. Latza (International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2005).

The study

• Authors: X. Baur, U. Latza
• Journal: International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 2005;78(7):593-602
• Cited by: 9 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Objective: To present recent data on the occurrence of non-malignant occupational airway diseases in Germany and to compare mainly affected occupations of obstructive airway diseases caused by allergens and irritants with available surveillance data from other countries.

Methods: Sources of German data were statistics for the year 2003 of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and of the federation of statutory accident insurance institutions for the industrial sector.

Results: Confirmed cases of non-malignant occupational respiratory diseases in Germany are mainly benign asbestos-associated diseases (occupational disease no. 4103: 1,975 cases), silicosis/coal worker's pneumoconiosis (occupational disease no. 4101: 1,158 cases), obstructive airway diseases due to allergens (occupational disease no. 4301: 935 cases), chronic obstructive bronchitis and/or emphysema in hard coal miners (occupational disease no. 4111: 414 cases), obstructive airway diseases due to irritants and toxic agents (occupational disease no. 4302: 181 cases), diseases caused by ionising radiation (171 cases), diseases due to isocyanates (occupational disease no. 1315: 55 cases), and 22 cases of other rare occupational lung and airway diseases. Miners, bakers, chemical workers, hairdressers and health care workers are mostly affected. Bakers were also frequently affected by occupational asthma in Finland, France, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Piedmont region in Italy, South Africa, and New Zealand. Further, high frequencies of occupational asthma were reported for health care workers in France, Italy, New Jersey, Michigan, and South Africa.

Conclusion: Despite completely different legal definitions and regulations, comparably high numbers of occupational obstructive diseases in western countries require better primary and secondary prevention in industries with high incidence, especially in bakeries, the health care sector, farming, and mining. Furthermore, there is a urgent need for harmonization of recognition and compensation systems for occupational diseases as well as of respective preventive strategies within the European Union.

In plain English

This paper was a report on official German statistics combined with a review of published surveillance data from other countries. It counted non-malignant occupational lung and airway diseases confirmed during 2003 by the German statutory accident insurance institutions for the industrial sector. The largest group was about 1975 confirmed cases of asbestosis, pleural plaques or diffuse pleural fibrosis caused by asbestos dust (German occupational disease no. 4103). The article did not name asbestos fiber types. There were also 1158 cases of silicosis or coal worker's pneumoconiosis and 922 confirmed cases of allergic obstructive airway disease, a figure given elsewhere in the article as 935. Of the 922, 495 worked in bakeries. There were also 414 cases of chronic obstructive bronchitis or emphysema in hard coal miners, 181 cases due to irritants or toxic agents, and 55 isocyanate cases. Reports from other countries also often found bakers affected. The authors cautioned that insurance data show only the tip of the iceberg, because many cases are unreported, undetected or fall outside legal definitions. They concluded that the European Union needs a unified system of recognition, compensation and prevention.

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: Descriptive report of German workers' compensation statistics for 2003, with a review of published surveillance data from other countries
• Who was studied: Occupational disease claims and confirmed cases in Germany in 2003. There were 64,856 claims in total among 38,246,000 insured workers. Confirmed cases came from the statutory accident insurance institutions for the industrial sector.
• Exposure: Occupational exposures recognized under German occupational disease definitions: asbestos dust (benign lung and pleural disease, no. 4103), quartz dust, hard coal mine dust, allergens, irritants and toxic agents, isocyanates, and ionizing radiation. No asbestos fiber types were specified.
• Main results:
  • About 1975 confirmed cases of asbestosis, pleural plaques or diffuse pleural fibrosis caused by asbestos dust (occupational disease no. 4103) in 2003
  • 1158 confirmed cases of silicosis or coal worker's pneumoconiosis, mainly among miners
  • 922 confirmed cases of allergic obstructive airway disease (no. 4301), of whom 495 worked in bakeries
  • 414 confirmed cases of chronic obstructive bronchitis or emphysema in hard coal miners (no. 4111)
  • 181 confirmed obstructive airway diseases caused by irritants or toxic agents (no. 4302)
  • 55 confirmed cases of isocyanate-induced disease
  • In published reports from other countries reviewed by the authors, bakers were also frequently affected by obstructive airway disease or asthma
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the European Union needs a unified system of recognition and compensation of occupational diseases, together with shared preventive standards and regulations.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Insurance data show only the tip of the iceberg, because many cases do not meet legal definitions, are not reported, or are not detected.
  • Differences in medical and legal definitions, insurance systems and regulations among EU countries make comparisons difficult.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Occupational Disease, Silicosis, Pneumoconiosis, Emphysema.

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