Objective To describe the incidence and distribution of newly reported occupational pneumoconiosis cases in Guangdong Province from 2006 to 2016, analyze its epidemiological characteristics, and put forward proposals for prevention and treatment.
Methods Data of occupational pneumoconiosis in Guangdong from 2006 to 2016 were retrieved from the National Information Surveillance System for Occupational Disease and Occupational Health, and analyzed for epidemiological characteristics including type of pneumoconiosis, year of onset, age of onset, length of dust exposure, region, industry, enterprise scale, and economic category.
Results A total of 2 362 new cases of occupational pneumoconiosis were reported in Guangdong Province from 2006 to 2016, of which stage I (1 470 cases, 62.24%) and silicosis (1 568 cases, 66.38%) patients were dominant, together with other pneumoconiosis (351 cases, 14.86%) and electric welder pneumoconiosis (252 cases, 10.67%).The number of occupational pneumoconiosis cases reported showed a rapid rise from 2006 (74 cases) to 2011 (284 cases), then a zigzag trend up to 2015 (309 cases), and finally declined to the level of 2014 in 2016 (259 cases).Moreover, 97.93% of the newly reported patients were male (2313 cases) and 2.07% were female (49 cases).Of the stage I cases, the median onset age was 44 (25th-75th percentile, 38-49) years old, and the median length of dust exposure was 9 (25th-75th percentile, 6-14) years.Manufacturing industry reported most occupational pneumoconiosis cases (66.21%).The leading locations reporting pneumoconiosis cases were Foshan (556 cases, 23.54%), Guangzhou (434 cases, 18.37%), Shenzhen (272 cases, 11.52%), Zhongshan (208 cases, 8.81%), and Shaoguan (167 cases, 7.07%).Enterprise clustering and incidence grouping of pneumoconiosis were observed.In the 1 036 enterprises, 25.39% reported more than 2 pneumoconiosis cases from 2006 to 2016.The cases were mainly distributed in private enterprises (55.72%) as well as small (37.30%) and mediumscale (34.16%) enterprises.
Conclusion Occupational pneumoconiosis in Guangdong Province is mainly composed of silicosis, which is still at a high incidence level.However, the ratio of pneumoconiosis cases to the total occupational disease cases declines since 2013.
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