Smoking-Adjusted Incidence of Lung Cancer among Swedish Men in Different Occupations

Carstensen J M (Department of Cancer Epidemiology, Radiumhemmet Karolinska University Hospital, Box 60500, S-104 01 Stockholm, Sweden), Pershagen G and Eklund G. Smokirtg-adjusted incidence of lung cancer among Swedish men in different occupations. International Journal of Epidemiology 1988, 17:753–758. The Swedish Cancer-Environment Register was used to study the relation between occupation and lung cancer risk during the period 1961–79 in 1.6 million men aged 30–64 years in 1960. By adding information concerning smoking habits from a sample of 1% of the Swedish population, smoking-adjusted standardized incidence ratios (SIR) were estimated for different occupational categories according to the population census of 1960. Smoking-adjusted excess risks (p<0.01) were found in assemblers and machine erectors, drivers, miners, packers and longshoremen as well as in sheetmetal workers. Significantly fewer lung cancer cases than expected were seen in artists and writers, chemical and cellulose workers, farmers, farm workers, forestry workers, public administrators and in teachers. As a result of a high prevalence of smoking, the smoking-adjusted SIR was markedly lower than the unadjusted SIR in artists and writers, drivers, mechanics and repairmen, members of the armed forces and painters. The opposite situation was seen for clergy, farmers and forestry workers.