Publication:
Cancer incidence among healthcare workers in cancer centers: A 14-year retrospective cohort study in Thailand

1
0

Issued Date

2018

Resource Type

Article

File Type

application/pdf

ISSN

22149996

DOI

10.29024/aogh.2324

Other identifier(s)

2-s2.0-85054049609

Rights Holder(s)

Scopus

Bibliographic Citation

Annals of Global Health. Vol 84, No.3 (2018), p.429-435

Suggested Citation

Ekpanyaskul C., Sangrajrang S. Cancer incidence among healthcare workers in cancer centers: A 14-year retrospective cohort study in Thailand. Annals of Global Health. Vol 84, No.3 (2018), p.429-435. doi:10.29024/aogh.2324 Retrieved from: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14740/3960

Title

Cancer incidence among healthcare workers in cancer centers: A 14-year retrospective cohort study in Thailand

Author(s)

Ekpanyaskul C.
 Sangrajrang S.

Abstract

Objective: To identify the situation and possible work-related cancer risks among healthcare workers in cancer centers. Methods: This research was a 14-year retrospective cohort study of 2,331 healthcare workers at the National Cancer Institute and 7 regional cancer centers in Thailand. The study period consisted of a total of 18,939 person-years of observation. The demographic data, such as occupation and work area were collected by self-administered questionnaires or by use of a proxy. The cases were identified by the diagnoses of physicians. The incidence rates for each type of cancer, occupation and work area among the population of this study were compared with the general working population, based on national cancer statistics. The results were reported in terms of Standard Incidence Ratio (SIR) and a 95% confidence interval (CI), using Fisher’s exact method. Findings: There were 12 different types of cancer identified in 35 cases during the 14 years of the study and breast cancer was found to be at the highest number. The overall cancer incidence rates were 221.04 and 173.43 per 100,000 person-years, in males and females, respectively. Leukemia showed statistically significant levels of high SIR among the female healthcare staffs (SIR = 11.54; 95% CI = 2.38–33.72). With regard to occupation, only the male physicians showed significant SIR = 6.02; 95% CI = 1.41–19.93, while this study did not identify significant SIR levels in any of the work areas. Conclusions: This study found that the risk of leukemia was higher than expected among healthcare workers and that physicians may have an increased risk of cancer compared to the general working population, which may be a work-related reflex. However, interpretations should be made with caution due to the small number of cases. © 2018 The Author(s).

Subject(s)

Adult
 Article
 Brain cancer
 Breast cancer
 Cancer center
 Cancer incidence
 Clinical article
 Cohort analysis
 Colorectal cancer
 Confidence interval
 Demography
 Female
 Fisher exact test
 Health care personnel
 Hematologic malignancy
 Human
 Kidney cancer
 Leukemia
 Liver cancer
 Lung cancer
 Male
 Medical staff
 Middle aged
 Ovary cancer
 Physician
 Retrospective study
 Thailand
 Thyroid cancer
 Uterine cervix cancer
 Adverse event
 Aged
 Incidence
 Longitudinal study
 Neoplasm
 Occupational disease
 Occupational exposure
 Risk factor
 Thailand
 Adult
 Aged
 Cancer Care Facilities
 Female
 Health Personnel
 Humans
 Incidence
 Longitudinal Studies
 Male
 Middle Aged
 Neoplasms
 Occupational Diseases
 Occupational Exposure
 Retrospective Studies
 Risk Factors
 Thailand

View online Resources

Research Projects

Organizational Units

Journal Issue

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14740/3960

Collections

Scopus: Year 1983-2021

Endorsement

Review

Supplemented By

Referenced By