Occupational sunlight exposure in relation to suicide among electric utility workers

Abstract

Background Occupational sunlight exposure was examined in relation to death from suicide in a United States cohort of 138,905 male electric utility workers. Methods Case-control sampling included 536 deaths from suicide and 5,348 eligible controls randomly selected from the cohort. Exposure was classified based on work history linked to indices of cumulative sunlight exposure. Results Mortality from suicide was not associated with estimates of recent and career occupational sunlight exposure, with adjusted odds ratios around unity. Occupational sunlight exposure was positively associated with nonviolent suicides, but no dose-response gradient was observed and risk estimates were notably imprecise. Conclusions These data provide evidence against an association between occupational sunlight exposure and mortality from suicide. Am. J. Ind. Med. 38:149–154, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.