Figure 3.

Accelerated lung function decline and mortality by cause of death. Accelerated lung function decline is defined by losses in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV₁) of ⩾64-ml per year in an individual; n = 563 participants contributed two or fewer pulmonary function tests and thus were not included in the analysis to improve the precision of slope (i.e., rate of change) estimates. Crude death proportions are presented. Piecewise exponential survival models control for age on September 11, 2001; race/ethnicity; sex; World Trade Center site arrival time; and smoking. The top three cancer causes of death were cancers of the digestive organs (category 3; n = 61), hematopoietic/lymphatic system (category 10; n = 25), and respiratory system (category 4; n = 23). *Category corresponds with National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health life table analysis system major categories.