[Incidence of silicosis among excavation workers]

Objective: To assess the incidence of silicosis among excavation workers in Suzhou city. Methods: In 2011-2016, we investigated the incidence of silicosis among 3190 excavation workers who participated in the mining operations from 1971 to 1974 in Suzhou city. To compare the general condition, complications, blood indexes and pulmonary function between different stages of silicosis patients. Results: Among all the participants, 144 cases were diagnosed as silicosis, and the incidence of silicosis was 4.51%, including 138 stage I cases (95.83%) , 4 stage II cases (2.78%) , and 2 stage III cases (1.39%) . Both systolic blood pressure (154.17±14.74 mmHg) and diastolic blood pressure (96.67±10.25 mmHg) of silicosis patients in stage II-III were significantly higher than that of patients in stage I (134.64±15.41 mmHg, 82.20±10.62 mmHg) (P<0.05) . Hypertension (54 cases, 37.50%) were the most commonly complication of silicosis patients, followed by abnormal electrocardiogram (38 cases, 26.39%) , diabetes (22 cases, 15.28%) , malignant tumor (10 cases, 6.94%) , hepatitis B (8 cases, 5.56%) and tuberculosis (8 cases, 5.56%) . The serum levels of red blood cell count (RBC) , hemoglobin (Hb) , albumin (ALB) , magnesium (Mg) and sodium (Na) in stage I silicosis patients were significantly higher than stage II-III patients (P<0.05) . While the serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and carbohydrate antigen 199 (CA199) in stage I silicosis patients were significantly lower than stage II-III patients (P<0.05) . The proportions of normal pulmonary function, mild airflow limitation, moderate airflow limitation and severe airflow limitation in silicosis patients were 44.03% (59/134) , 18.66% (25/134) , 29.85% (40/134) and 7.46% (10/134) , respectively. Conclusion: Our data obviously show that the excavation workers has a high incidence of silicosis. It is necessary to strengthen the occupational health surveillance of silicosis patients, reduce complications and improve their quality of life.