Preventive value of mass radiography surveys in the boot and shoe industry in Northamptonshire

Abstract

Summaryo(1)Mass radiography surveys of industrial Northamptonshire in 1945–46 showed a high incidence of unsuspected active pulmonary tuberculosis in boot and shoe workers compared with workers in other industries. A similar high incidence was noted in the clothing industry which largely employs young female labour.(2)Mass radiography surveys at three-yearly intervals have reduced the incidence of unsuspected phthisis in industrial workers to a low level. This reduction has been most spectacular in the boot and shoe factories which no longer show any significant excess of the disease compared with other occupations in the country.(3)The reasons for this favourable result in the boot and shoc industry are the high response of volunteers for mass radiography amongst boot and shoe workers; the relative stability of the boot and shoe population; and the weeding out of a relatively large number of elderly male sputum-positive cases with trivial symptoms.(4)It is suggested that mass radiography surveys are likely to have a more lasting effect in industries with a stable population like the boot and shoe, than in industries with a large labour turnover. Mass radiography surveys of industrial Northamptonshire in 1945–46 showed a high incidence of unsuspected active pulmonary tuberculosis in boot and shoe workers compared with workers in other industries. A similar high incidence was noted in the clothing industry which largely employs young female labour. Mass radiography surveys at three-yearly intervals have reduced the incidence of unsuspected phthisis in industrial workers to a low level. This reduction has been most spectacular in the boot and shoe factories which no longer show any significant excess of the disease compared with other occupations in the country. The reasons for this favourable result in the boot and shoc industry are the high response of volunteers for mass radiography amongst boot and shoe workers; the relative stability of the boot and shoe population; and the weeding out of a relatively large number of elderly male sputum-positive cases with trivial symptoms. It is suggested that mass radiography surveys are likely to have a more lasting effect in industries with a stable population like the boot and shoe, than in industries with a large labour turnover.