Introduction - Mortality by Occupation, Industry, and Cause of Death: 24 Reporting States (1984-1988)
 

DHHS (NIOSH) PUBLICATION
NO. 97-114 JUNE 1997

Introduction
 

The purpose of this report is to present estimates of the relative risks of mortality for selected causes of death by occupation and industry for white and black males and females. The report includes data for the period 1984–88 for 24 States reporting this information from death certificates through the vital statistics system. The report is a collaborative effort of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), both components of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Occupation and industry information from death certificates can serve as a readily available resource for monitoring occupational mortality on an ongoing basis. This information has the advantage of being useful for many occupations, industries, and diseases. The data draw on the strengths of the vital statistics system, which include universal coverage, uniformity of information, large numbers of events, and geographic identifiers.

The results from this occupational mortality study may be used as a screening tool to identify possible associations of cause of death and occupation (or industry) that warrant further study, to evaluate the results of other studies, to target occupational groups for health promotion activities, or to use for descriptive purposes. An apparent excess of cause-specific mortality in an industry or occupation must be verified by more definitive studies.

Because of space restrictions, this report presents only statistically significant proportionate mortality ratios (PMRs)—that is, those in which the lower bound of the confidence interval (CI) is greater than 100. All results are available upon request.

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