Risk factors associated with asbestos-related diseases: a community-based case-control study

Our plain-English summary of Risk factors associated with asbestos-related diseases: a community-based case-control study, by M.I. Rosell-Murphy, R. Abós-Herràndiz, J.T. Olivella, et al (BMC Public Health, 2013).

The study

• Authors: M.I. Rosell-Murphy, R. Abós-Herràndiz, J.T. Olivella, C. Alberti-Casas, I.G. Allas, X.M. Artés, I.K. Günther, I.G. Malet, R.O. Martínez, J. Canela-Soler
• Journal: BMC Public Health
• Published: 2013;13:723
• Cited by: 4 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Background: Asbestos is a first level carcinogen. However, few epidemiological studies analyse the risk and protective factors associated with asbestos-related diseases and follow up these conditions in the general population. Pleural mesothelioma, caused by inhalation of asbestos fibres at work, at home or in the environment, is the most representative asbestos-related disease.The objectives of this study are to analyse the risk and protective factors associated with asbestos-related diseases and to investigate the incidence of new clinical manifestations in patients already diagnosed with some form of ARD.

Methods/design: We have designed a matched case-control study with follow up of both cohorts from a population of a health district of the Barcelona province that has been exposed to asbestos for a period of 90 years.

Discussion: A better understanding of asbestos-related diseases should improve i) the clinical and epidemiological follow up of patients with this condition; ii) the design of new treatment strategies; iii) and the development of preventive activities. At the end of the study, the two cohorts created in this study (affected cases and healthy controls) will constitute the basis for future research.

In plain English

This article was a study protocol: it described a planned study and reported no results. The authors designed a community-based matched case-control study, with yearly follow-up of both groups, in a health district of Barcelona province, Spain, which they described as exposed to asbestos for 90 years. The district's five towns had about 174,515 inhabitants. Cases were to be people in the area diagnosed between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2013 with at least one of 10 asbestos-related diseases, including pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma, asbestosis and isolated pleural plaques. Each case was to be matched to one control without such disease, of the same gender, age within 5 years, and same town and period of residence. Planned data included exposure source, smoking, other illnesses and health service use. Based on earlier local data, the authors expected 17 new cases a year. They named memory bias, the long time between exposure and disease, uneven information quality and refusal to participate as limitations.

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: Study protocol (no results) for a community-based matched (1:1) case-control study, with yearly protocolized follow-up of cases and healthy controls over three years
• Who was studied: Inhabitants of a health district of five towns in Barcelona province, Spain (Cerdanyola del Vallès, Ripollet, Barberà del Vallès, Badia del Vallès, Montcada i Reixac), about 174,515 people. Cases were to be people diagnosed with at least one asbestos-related disease between 1/1/2011 and 31/12/2013. Each case was to have one control matched on no asbestos-related disease, age within 5 years, gender, town and period of residence. Based on previous local data, the authors expected 17 new cases a year (51 over the three-year study).
• Exposure: Asbestos exposure in an area the authors described as exposed for 90 years. Exposure source was to be recorded as asbestos factory, other related businesses, living near an asbestos source, living with an asbestos worker, or unknown, along with exposure times. The article does not name specific fiber types for the study area.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors stated that the planned study will describe the role of less well known factors in the protection against, and risk of, development and progression of asbestos-related diseases.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Memory bias of patients, controls and/or their relatives
  • The long time between first asbestos exposure and the onset of disease
  • Refusal of people to take part in the study
  • Asbestos-related disease is underreported and rarely appears as the underlying cause on death certificates

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis, Lung cancer, Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Case-Control Study, Pleural Mesothelioma.

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