earticle

영어

Purpose: Construction workers are exposed to various carcinogens such as dust, organic compounds and heavy metals. However, few studies have compared the risk of cancer among construction workers with workers of other industries. This study aims to compare the cancer risk of construction male workers with that of manufacturing male workers and examine whether there is a age-specific difference in cancer risk. Methods: A retrospective longitudinal study using Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing data was conducted. A total of 589 male workers were included in the study. The study participants were divided into construction workers and manufacturing workers. Confounding variables were adjusted for using multivariate logistic regression. Results: The results showed that cancer risk did not differ between male construction workers and male manufacturing workers. There was a positive association between cancer risk and age in manufacturing workers(odds ratio= 4.03, 95% confidential interval: 1.14, 14.21). However, cancer risk was not associated with age in construction workers(odds ratio=0.92, 95% confidential interval: 0.22, 3.94). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the age at which cancer occurs in construction workers is lower than that of manufacturing workers and call for health management tailored to construction workers along with policies to strengthen the management of carcinogens in construction industry.