~10 Percent of Deaths Among Ever-Employed Linked to COPD in 2020

THURSDAY, Dec. 8, 2022 (HealthDay News) — About 10 percent of deaths among ever-employed persons aged 15 years and older were associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in 2020, according to research published in the Dec. 9 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Girija Syamlal, M.B.B.S., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues analyzed the most recent 2020 multiple cause-of-death data for 46 states and New York City to describe COPD mortality among U.S. residents aged 15 years and older categorized as ever-employed.

The researchers found that 10.3 percent of the 3,077,127 decedents had COPD listed on the death certificate. Women, White persons, and non-Hispanic or Latino persons had the highest age-adjusted COPD death rates per 100,000 ever-employed persons (101.3, 116.9, and 115.8, respectively). The three industries with the highest proportionate mortality ratios were mining, accommodation and food services, and construction (1.33, 1.28, and 1.23, respectively). Food preparation and serving-related, health care support, and construction and extraction were the three occupations with the highest proportionate mortality ratios (1.30, 1.29, and 1.29, respectively).

“The elevated COPD mortality among ever-employed persons in certain industries and occupations underscores the importance of targeted interventions to prevent COPD from developing and intervening before it becomes symptomatic or severe,” the authors write.

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