Abstract
We aimed to estimate the economic losses currently caused by coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP) and, on the basis of these measurements, confirm the economic benefit of preventive measures. Our cohort study included 1,847 patients with CWP and 43,742 coal workers without CWP who were registered in the employment records of the Datong Coal Mine Group. We calculated the cumulative incidence rate of pneumoconiosis using the life-table method. We used the dose-response relationship between cumulative incidence density and cumulative dust exposure to predict the future trend in the incidence of CWP. We calculate the economic loss caused by CWP and economic effectiveness of CWP prevention by a step-wise model. The cumulative incidence rates of CWP in the tunneling, mining, combining, and helping cohorts were 58.7%, 28.1%, 21.7%, and 4.0%, respectively. The cumulative incidence rates increased gradually with increasing cumulative dust exposure (CDE). We predicted 4,300 new CWP cases, assuming the dust concentrations remained at the levels of 2011. If advanced dustproof equipment was adopted, 537 fewer people would be diagnosed with CWP. In all, losses of 1.207 billion Renminbi (RMB, official currency of China) would be prevented and 4,698.8 healthy life years would be gained. Investments in advanced dustproof equipment would be total 843 million RMB, according to our study; the ratio of investment to restored economic losses was 1:1.43. Controlling workplace dust concentrations is critical to reduce the onset of pneumoconiosis and to achieve economic benefits.
Highlights
Coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) is the most common occupational disease among coal workers [1,2,3,4,5,6]
The goals of our study were to analyze the prevalence of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP) and predict the number of CWP cases among workers who first experienced dust exposure between 1970 and 2010; to calculate economic losses and healthy life losses due to CWP; and to calculate economic and social benefits achieved as a result of dustproof investments
There were 49210 people in Datong Coal Mine Group who started to expose to dust from 1970 to 2010. 3621 people were excluded because of incomplete data, such as any drop outs, workers loss to follow up, or workers who die from other disease. 45589 subjects met the requirements, the coincidence rate was 92.6%
Summary
Coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) is the most common occupational disease among coal workers [1,2,3,4,5,6]. These workers develop CWP because they are exposed to coal dust, mixed dust, PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0130958. Cost-Effectiveness of Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis Prevention data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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