School of Nursing, China Medical University, Taichung 406040, Taiwan.
Department of Public Health, China Medical University, Taichung 406040, Taiwan.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Nov 30;18(23):12625. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182312625.
Cancer is increasing in rate globally and is leading cause of death among no communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) after cardiovascular disease (CVD). Most of the research focuses on the risk of occupational injury, job stress, mental illness, substance abuse and workplace safety in physicians and nurses. However, fewer studies have investigated the risk of cancer in pharmacists. We compared the matched general population to investigate the risk of cancer in pharmacists in Taiwan. Data were obtained from the Health and Welfare Data Science Center of the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taiwan. We established a pharmacist group that included 11,568 pharmacists and selected a 4-fold comparison ( 46,272) for the non-clinics comparison group, frequency being matched by age, gender and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) score. The pharmacists had a lower but non-significant risk of all cancer (Adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 0.96; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.85-1.07) compared with the general population. Female pharmacists had a higher risk of cancer than male pharmacists ([aHR] = 1.23; 95% CI = 1.06-1.43). Pharmacists had higher risks of breast cancer in females (aHR = 1.68; 95% CI = 1.35-2.08) and of prostate cancer in males (aHR = 2.18; 95% CI = 1.35-2.08) when compared with the general population. Occupational risk factors could play a role, but they were not evaluated. These epidemiological findings require additional studies to clarify cancer risk mechanisms in pharmacists.
癌症的发病率在全球范围内呈上升趋势，在非传染性慢性病（NCDs）中仅次于心血管疾病（CVD），是导致死亡的主要原因。大多数研究都集中在医生和护士的职业伤害、工作压力、精神疾病、药物滥用和工作场所安全风险上。然而，关于药剂师患癌症风险的研究较少。我们比较了匹配的一般人群，以调查台湾药剂师患癌症的风险。数据来自台湾卫生福利部健康与福利数据科学中心。我们建立了一个药剂师组，其中包括 11568 名药剂师，并为非临床对照组选择了 4 倍匹配（46272 人），匹配年龄、性别和 Charlson 合并症指数（CCI）评分。与一般人群相比，药剂师的所有癌症风险较低，但无统计学意义（调整后的危害比[aHR] = 0.96；95%置信区间[CI] = 0.85-1.07）。与男性药剂师相比，女性药剂师的癌症风险更高（[aHR] = 1.23；95% CI = 1.06-1.43）。与一般人群相比，女性药剂师乳腺癌风险较高（aHR = 1.68；95% CI = 1.35-2.08），男性前列腺癌风险较高（aHR = 2.18；95% CI = 1.35-2.08）。职业危险因素可能起作用，但未进行评估。这些流行病学发现需要进一步的研究来阐明药剂师患癌症的风险机制。
