The Mortality of Appalachian Coal Miners, 1963 to 1971

During 1963 to 1964, the Public Health Service conducted a prevalence study of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis in Appalachia in which random samples consisting of (a) 2,549 employed miners and (b) 1,177 ex-miners were examined. A study of mortality of these miners and ex-miners through 1971 has now been carried out. The effects of pneumoconiosis, years spent underground, cigarette smoking, and obstructive pulmonary disease on the length of life were examined. The mortality for actively employed miners was 7% less than the expected death rate for all men in the United States. Ex-miners, many of whom had retired because of ill health, had a death rate 24% greater than expected. While simple pneumoconiosis did not affect life expectancy, complicated pneumoconiosis was associated with premature death. Cigarette smoking and airway obstruction led to consistent excesses in mortality.