M9.1 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL ESTIMATE OF THE PROPORTION OF FATALITIES RELATED TO OCCUPATIONAL FACTORS IN FINLAND

M. Nurminen, A. Karjalainen.Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland

Objective: To estimate the proportion of annual deaths related to occupational factors in Finland, and consider methodological issues and associated uncertainties.

Methods: Statistics on causes of death, numbers of subjects exposed, and risk ratios obtained from epidemiological literature were used to estimate the population attributable fraction and disease burden for causes of death from work related diseases. Sex, age, and disease specific numbers of deaths were provided by Statistics Finland for 1996. Information on the size of the population, broken down by sex, age, occupation, and industry, was acquired from population censuses. A Finnish job exposure matrix supplied data on the prevalence of exposure for specific agents and the level of exposure among exposed workers.

Results: The attributable fraction of work related mortality in the relevant disease and age categories was estimated to be 7% (10% for men and 2% for women), and for all ages the fraction was 4%. For the main cause of death …