Clinical predictors of mortality from asbestosis in the north American insulator cohort, 1981 to 1991

摘要

Recorded mortality from asbestosis has increased markedly in the United States in recent decades, from 0.49 to 3.06 per million persons between 1970 and 1990. Although asbestosis is generally con- sidered to be a slowly progressive disorder, little is known about how clinical and exposure parame- ters among individuals with asbestosis quantitatively predict subsequent risk of death from asbesto- sis. We followed 2,609 insulators from the North American insulator cohort 10 yr to determine cause of death and to relate clinical findings to risk of death.