Respiratory predictors of disability days: a five year prospective study of U.S. coal miners

A 5-year prospective analysis tests the hypothesis that coal miners who have impaired respiratory health also experience greater numbers of disability days due to occupational injury. Occupational and respiratory health information collected for the period 1977 through 1981 by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) on 1,118 U.S. underground coal miners was linked to coal miner injury records collected under a mandatory reporting system by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Respiratory impairment, based on spirometric measures, and a questionnaire measure of chronic bronchitis symptoms, after adjustment for cigarette smoking and total years of underground mining, did not provide statistically significant prediction of average disability days. In addition, respiratory impairment did not predict the number of episodes of occupational injuries resulting in days lost from work.