An epidemiological study of work with video screens and pregnancy outcome: I. A registry study

Three cohorts of women were identified with the aid of occupational codes in the census, linked to the Medical Birth Registry and an Inpatient Registry, containing information on women hospitalized for spontaneous abortion. The three cohorts were selected from the same socioeconomic stratum but had different probabilities to be exposed for video screen work: high, medium, and low. The total pregnancy outcome of the three groups of women did not differ significantly, but there was a weak trend for more spontaneous abortions and perhaps also for congenital malformations in the group with the highest video screen work exposure; however, the differences could be random. Comparisons of delivery outcomes for these cohorts in 1976-77 with those in 1980-81 did not show any consistent pattern in spite of the heavy computerization of these workplaces which occurred between the two time periods. The second part of this report studies the material in further detail.