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American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 128, No. 6: 1364-1375
Copyright © 1988 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health

research-article

COMPONENTS AND MODIFIERS OF THE HEALTHY WORKER EFFECT: EVIDENCE FROM THREE OCCUPATIONAL COHORTS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR INDUSTRIAL COMPENSATION

GEOFFREY R. HOWE1, ANNA M. CHIARELLI1 and JOAN P. LINDSAY2

1National Cancer Institute of Canada Epidemiology Unit McMurrich Building, 12 Queen's Park Crescent West University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada. (Reprint requests to Dr. Geoffrey R. Howe.)
2Surveillance and Risk Assessment Division, Laboratory Center for Disease Control, Health and Welfare Canada Ottawa, Ontario KlA 0L2, Canada

Howe, G. R. (NCIC Epidemiology Unit, McMurrich Building, U. of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S1A8, Canada), A. M. Chiarelli, and J. P. Lindsay. Components and modifiers of the healthy worker effect: evidence from three occupational cohorts and implications for industrial compensation. Am J Epidemiol 1988; 128:1364–75.

The authors examined the components and modifiers of the healthy worker effect using mortality data from three occupational cohorts: the employees of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited followed between 1950 and 1981, a 10% sample of the Canadian labor force followed between 1965 and 1979, and workers at the Eldorado Resources Limited Beaverlodge uranium mine followed between 1950 and 1980. Two important components of the healthy worker effect have been identified in these cohorts, namely, initial selection of and continuing employment of healthy individuals. There is less evidence for a contribution from the existence of differential risk factors among employed individuals as compared with the general population. The healthy worker effect is, however, substantially modified by time since employment, sex, age, specific cause of death, and specific occupation. Because of this variation, it is inappropriate to account for the healthy worker effect by a single parameter, and all of the above factors must be taken into account in any appropriate analysis. When the only available comparison group for an occupational cohort is the general population, the healthy worker effect is unlikely to have any substantial influence on the process of assessing causality for any observed association or attributing cause in an individual case. This would be particularly true for cancer, and even more so for lung cancer, a disease often assocfated with industrial compensation cases.

epidemiologic methods; industry; neoplasms; occupations; workmen's compensation


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