SUMMARY We recently developed and validated an index of socioeconomic status (SES) termed HOUSES (HOUsing-based index of SocioEconomic Status) based on real property data. We assessed whether HOUSES overcomes the absence of SES measures in medical records and is associated with risk of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in children. We conducted a population-based case control study of children in Olmsted County, MN diagnosed with IPD (1996–2005). Each case was age- and gender-matched to two controls. HOUSES was derived using a previously reported algorithm from publicly available housing attributes (the higher HOUSES, the higher SES). HOUSES was available for 92.3% (n=97) and maternal education level for 43% (n=45). HOUSES was inversely associated with risk of IPD (odds ratio: 0.22, 95%CI: 0.05–0.89, p=0.034) whereas maternal education was not (OR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.50–1.19, p=0.24). HOUSES may be useful for overcoming a paucity of conventional SES measures in commonly used datasets in epidemiological research.

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Background/Aims: Workers who are exposed to dust in the workplace tend to show a higher incidence of gastric cancer. Nevertheless, scientific evidence to support an association between dust exposure and the risk of gastric cancer is inadequate. This study aimed to investigate whether or not occupational dust exposure influences the risk of gastric cancer. Methods: We collected the electronic data from the Pneumoconiosis Health Examination (PHE) program, provided by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service from 2002 to 2017. The PHE database was linked to the National Health Insurances databases. The age-standardized incidence ratio (SIR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the risk of gastric cancers were evaluated in workers with occupational dust exposure, and the results were compared to those in the general population. Results: From 2004 to 2015, 1,543 cases of gastric cancer were observed in the male participants, as compared with 1,174 of expected cases, which yielded an SIR of 1.314 (95% CI, 1.249 to 1.380). Under dust exposure, the risk of gastric cancer was increased 23.9% in the male participants (95% CI, 19.9 to 27.5), and the degree of impairment of lung function was inversely related to the risk of gastric cancer. Conclusions: Workers with occupational dust exposure were at higher risk of developing gastric cancer than the general population. Thus, future efforts for the prevention of gastric cancer are necessary for dust exposed workers.