Abstract 3437: Cancer and all-cause mortality among white and blue collar workers in middle-aged and elderly chinese women in a prospective cohort study

Abstract

Abstract Inequalities in health and mortality between white and blue collar workers have been well documented in western countries, particularly among men. Studies regarding occupation related mortality disparities in Asian populations including Chinese are limited. We included 74,941 40-70 years old Chinese women from the Shanghai Women's Health Study (SWHS) in an analysis of occupation and mortality. An in-person interview was conducted at enrolment to obtain lifetime job history as well as lifestyle and other potential risk factors for each participant. Each job title was coded in three digits according to the Chinese National Standard Occupation and Industry Codes Manual, and the categories of white and blue collar work were defined based on this coding. The information on mortality was provided by annual linkage to the Shanghai Vital Statistics Registry. Cox regression models were applied to evaluate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of all-cause and cause-specific mortality. In comparison with lifetime white collar workers, lifetime blue collar workers had 18% excess in all cause-mortality (HR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.04-1.34) and 12% excess in cancer deaths (HR = 1.12, 95% CI = 0.93-1.35) after adjustment for lifestyle and other potential risk factors. A significantly increased risk was also associated with mortality from diabetes (HR = 1.89, 95% CI = 1.06-3.37). There were no statistically significant differences in mortality between white and blue collar workers for other causes of death including circulatory, respiratory, gastrointestinal or other diseases among this population. Our study provides suggestive evidence that blue collar workers may have a higher risk of total cancer mortality compared to white collar workers among women in Shanghai. Citation Format: Bu-Tian Ji. Cancer and all-cause mortality among white and blue collar workers in middle-aged and elderly chinese women in a prospective cohort study. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 3437.