Selected occupations are associated with increased COPD risk in a large cross-sectional population-based UK study. Further analyses should confirm the extent to which these associations reflect exposures still of concern and where strengthened preventive action may be needed.

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BackgroundCOPD is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Exposure to occupational hazards is an important preventable risk factor but the contribution of specific occupations to COPD risk in a general population is uncertain. Our aim was to investigate the association of COPD with occupation in the UK population.MethodsIn 2006–2010 the UK Biobank cohort recruited 502,649 adults aged 40–69 years throughout the UK. COPD cases were identified by pre-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC≤lower limit of normal (LLN) according to ATS/ERS guidelines. Current occupations were coded using the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2000. Prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of COPD for each SOC-coded job were estimated using a robust Poisson model adjusted for sex, age, recruitment centre and lifetime tobacco smoking. Analyses restricted to never smokers and non-asthmatics were also performed.Results Of the 353 occupations reported by 228,614 current working participants, several showed significantly increased COPD risk. Those at highest COPD relative risk were seafarers (PR = 2.64; 95% CI: 1.59–4.38), coal mine operatives (PR = 2.30; 95% CI: 1.00–5.31), cleaners (industrial: PR = 1.96; 95% CI:1.16–3.31 and domestic: PR = 1.43;95% CI: 1.28–1.59), roofers/tilers (PR = 1.86; 95% CI: 1.29–2.67), packers/bottlers/canners/fillers (PR = 1.60; 95% CI: 1.15–2.22), horticultural trades (PR = 1.55; 95% CI: 0.97–2.50), food/drink/tobacco process operatives (PR = 1.46; 95% CI: 1.11–1.93), floorers/wall tilers (PR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.00–2.00), chemical/related process operatives (PR = 1.39; 95% CI: 0.98–1.97), postal workers/couriers (PR = 1.35; 95% CI: 1.15–1.59), labourers in building/woodworking trades (PR = 1.32; 95% CI: 1.04–1.68), school mid-day assistants (PR = 1.32; 95% CI: 1.01–1.74), and kitchen/catering assistants (PR = 1.30; 95% CI: 1.10–„1.53). Associations were similar in analyses restricted to never smokers and non-asthmatics.Conclusions Selected occupations are associated with increased COPD risk in a large cross-sectional population-based UK study. Further analyses should confirm the extent to which these associations reflect exposures still of concern and where strengthened preventive action may be needed.

BackgroundThe standard approach for assessing lifetime individual occupational exposure is the manual collection and coding of self-reported job-histories. However this process is time-consuming and unfeasible in large population-based studies such as the UK Biobank cohort. Our aim was to develop a new valid and efficient web-based tool to collect, and automatically code, individual lifetime job-histories in the UK Biobank cohort to investigate work-related COPD.MethodsUK Biobank is a population-based cohort of 502,682 subjects, aged 40–69 years, recruited in 2006–2010. We developed an online job-questionnaire, termed OSCAR (Occupations Self Coding Automatic Recording tool), based on the hierarchical structure of the UK Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2000 to allow participants to self-collect and automatically code their lifetime job-histories via a decision tree model. Each participant was asked to identify each job through lists of job categories ending in a job title linked to a hidden 4-digit SOC-code. Also for each job a job title in free text was collected to allow OSCAR validation. Cohen’s kappa coefficient (k) was used to estimate inter-rater agreement between SOC codes assigned by OSCAR and by an expert manual coder (gold standard).ResultsOSCAR was submitted in June-August 2015 to the 324,653 Biobank participants with an available email. Lifetime 4-digit SOC-coded job-histories for 108,784 responders were obtained (participation rate 34%). A random sample of 400 job titles in free text was used to perform OSCAR validation. The agreement between the 4-digit SOC codes assigned by OSCAR and the manual coder was moderately good (k = 0.46; 0.42–0.49). The agreement improved when considering job categories (0.70 at a 1-digit SOC-code level).ConclusionsOur web-based job questionnaire OSCAR is a new efficient and valid tool for collecting and automatically coding lifetime job histories in large population-based studies and is adaptable for use in other health research projects.