Hoar S K, Morrison A S, Cole P, Silverman D T
J Occup Med. 1980 Nov;22(11):722-6.
Studies of the adverse effects of occupational exposures are most informative when jobs can be classified according to the specific chemical or physical agents involved. However, information sufficiently detailed to permit this is not often available. In such instances a study usually will be based on subjects classified according to industry or task, effectively ignoring the specific agents to which exposure occurred. Such crude classification tends to reduce or obscure associations between specific exposures and disease. In response to this problem, the authors have developed an occupation and exposure linkage system with particular reference to carcinogenesis. Occupations were classified by industry and by task within the industry. Lists of suspect carcinogens were developed and each suspect carcinogen was linked to industries and tasks in which it has been used. These links make it possible to place in the same exposure category all study subjects whose employment history suggests contact with a particular agent. Epidemiologic analysis then can be based on chemical and physical exposures, rather than on industries or tasks. The linkage system enhances the value of information on occupation obtained from death certificates, cancer registries, medical records, and questionnaires.
当工作能够根据所涉及的特定化学或物理因素进行分类时，职业暴露不良反应的研究最具参考价值。然而，通常无法获得足够详细的信息来进行这种分类。在这种情况下，研究通常会基于根据行业或任务分类的受试者，实际上忽略了发生暴露的特定因素。这种粗略的分类往往会减少或模糊特定暴露与疾病之间的关联。为了解决这个问题，作者开发了一种职业与暴露关联系统，特别针对致癌作用。职业按行业以及行业内的任务进行分类。制定了可疑致癌物清单，并将每种可疑致癌物与使用过它的行业和任务联系起来。这些联系使得能够将所有就业历史表明接触过特定因素的研究对象归为同一暴露类别。然后，流行病学分析可以基于化学和物理暴露，而不是基于行业或任务。该关联系统提高了从死亡证明、癌症登记处、医疗记录和调查问卷中获得的职业信息的价值。
