Smoking prevalence of asbestos workers: a comment

Our plain-English summary of Smoking prevalence of asbestos workers: a comment, by J.H. Lange, K.W. Thomulka (American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 2003).

The study

• Authors: J.H. Lange, K.W. Thomulka
• Journal: American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Published: 2003;44(2):218-9; author reply 220-1
• Type of article: Comment, Letter
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This is a letter to the editor, not a research study, and it reports no new data. The authors commented on a 2002 study by Osinubi et al. That study had reported that 16% of its group of asbestos workers were current smokers. The group had a mean age of 60.5 years, and 55% were ex-smokers. The letter argued that this figure likely understated smoking among asbestos workers. It cited three earlier surveys by the letter's first author and colleagues of people attending asbestos abatement training courses. Those surveys found 47.5% current smokers (initial training, 1987), 50.6% (initial training, 1989 to 1991) and 57.6% (annual refresher training, 1991), in groups with mean ages under 35, 32.8 and 33.5 years. The letter also cited other reports of 49.9% and 41.9% current smokers among construction workers, and 27.7% in the general population. The authors suggested that the older group's lower rate reflected a survivor, or healthy worker, effect. They concluded that the 16% figure is likely an inaccurate picture of the occupation overall, and they called for more persistent smoking cessation programs.

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: letter to the editor commenting on a published study (no new data collected)
• Who was studied: No population was studied. The letter discussed the study group of asbestos workers in Osinubi et al. (2002) and compared it with earlier published surveys of asbestos abatement training course attendees and of construction workers.
• Exposure: Cigarette smoking among asbestos workers, including asbestos abatement workers. No fiber types or doses were discussed.
• Main results:
  • Osinubi et al. (2002) reported 16% current smokers in their study group of asbestos workers. The letter notes that references within that study gave 24–34% for asbestos workers.
  • The Osinubi et al. study group had a mean age of 60.5 years. The letter argued this partly explains the lower percent of current smokers, through a healthy worker survivor effect.
  • The letter argued that the 55% ex-smokers reported by Osinubi et al. supports a survivor effect.
  • The first author's three earlier surveys of asbestos abatement training course attendees found 47.5% current smokers (initial training class, 1987), 50.6% (initial training class, 1989–1991) and 57.6% (annual refresher training class, 1991).
  • The mean ages of those three surveyed groups were under 35, 32.8 and 33.5 years.
  • Other cited studies reported 49.9% current smokers among construction workers (1978–1980) and 41.9% (1988–1994).
  • Current smoking in the general population was cited as 27.7%.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the lower rate of current smokers reported by Osinubi et al. is likely an inaccurate representation of asbestos workers overall. They said that estimates that half of asbestos abatement workers smoke should encourage more persistent delivery of smoking cessation programs.

Related studies

• Healthcare provider smoking cessation advice among US worker groups — D.J. Lee, L.E. Fleming, et al. (2007)
• Study of smoking behavior in asbestos workers — O.Y. Osinubi, A.A. Afilaka, et al. (2002)
• The effect of smoking on the risk of lung cancer mortality for asbestos workers in Great Britain (1971-2005) — G. Frost, A. Darnton, et al. (2011)
• A pilot study of telephone-based smoking cessation intervention in asbestos workers — O.Y. Osinubi, J. Moline, et al. (2003)
• Dietary vitamin A and prevalence of bronchial metaplasia in asbestos-exposed workers — S.T. Mayne, C.A. Redlich, et al. (1998)
• Smoking rates in asbestos workers — J.H. Lange, J.A. Hoskins, et al. (2006)

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