Population Characteristics of Ex-Miners with Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis

Abstract

Coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) may continue to pro- gress after the miners had left the industry. In order to get involved in the medical care and compensation evaluation of patients with CWP,it is essential to know their popul- ation characteristics first. This study analyzed the clinical histories, physical findings and chest X-ray mani- festations of 206 retired miners with CWP.Occupational histories and smoking habits were obtained by questionnaire. The percentage of patients who failed to perform an accep- table spirometry in 5 consecutive trials was calculated. It was shown that these patients had older age (varied between 46 and 90 years with a mean of 67.0 years), lower height and body weight than normal subjects. Their average working life before retirement was 33.7 + 6.3 years. Female miners with CWP were also found. One hundred and forty-three male patients (143/182,79%)were smokers, whill all of the 24 female patients were non-smokers. Classification of chest radiographic manifestations revealed a relatively high per- centage (45/206,22%) of subjects with massive progressive fibrosis. It is noteworthy that many patients (59/206, 28.6% ) failed to perform a satisfactory forced- expiratory maneuver during spermatic measurement. We conclude that the population characteristics of ex-miners were somewhat different from those of working miners. These information is helpful in the clinical diagnosis and disability assessment of CWP in ex-miners.