Mortality patterns among women in the motor vehicle manufacturing industry

This retrospective follow-up study evaluated the mortality experience of 11,271 women employed in a large motor vehicle manufacturing company in 1973. Company computerized personnel records were used to identify subjects and to obtain their employment histories. Follow-up through December 31, 1985, was conducted using company, state, and national data sources. The mortality rates of the cohort were compared with the rates of the U.S. general population of white or black women, adjusting for age and calendar time and using the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) as the measure of association. The overall mortality rate of the cohort was lower than the U.S. rate by 15% among whites (SMR = 85, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 78-93) and by 40% among blacks (SMR = 59, CI = 49-70). Among whites, the low mortality rate was due primarily to deficits of noncancer deaths, although a 32% deficit also was observed for breast cancer (SMR = 68, CI = 48-92). Black female workers had 40% fewer deaths than expected overall, and their all cancer SMR also was below expectation (SMR = 82, CI = 60-109). Despite evidence of a strong healthy worker effect among women in the motor vehicle manufacturing industry, the study found excesses of lung cancer among white women in assembly jobs (SMR = 158, CI = 107-226) and of pancreatic cancer among white assembly workers in upholstery and trim operations (SMR = 302, CI = 97-704).