Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies
| Reference | Study type | Study size | N (in meta-analysis) | Asbestos exposure | Smoking habits | Radiological chest imaging | Lung function | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Occupation | Duration (yr) | Latency (yr) | non smokers (%) | Pack-years | Quality requirements | Reference values | ||||||||
| mean | SD | Mean | SD | mean | SD | |||||||||
| Ameille et al. 2004 [70] | CS | 287 | 228 | asbestos industry | 25.8 | 9.4 | 33.2 | 9.4 | 38.1 | nr | nr | HRCT | ATS 1987 | ATS 1987 |
| Begin et al. 1993 [71] | CS | 61 | 46 | asbestos industry | 22.0 | 15.6§ | nr | nr | 21.3 | 28.0 | 23.4§ | X-ray/HRCT | Bates 1971 | Bates 1971 |
| Begin et al. 1995 [72] | CS | 207 | 96 | diverse | 26.0 | 13.7§ | nr | nr | 13.5 | 29.4 | 20.6§ | X-ray/HRCT | Bates 1971 | Bates 1971 |
| Van Cleemput et al. 2001 [16] | CS | 94 | 73 | asbestos industry | 25.0 | 1.4 | nr | nr | 15.0 | 10.9 | 20.6 | HRCT | ECSC/ERS | Quanjer 1993 |
| Delpierre et al. 2002 [55] | CS | 97 | 38 | asbestos industry | 19.0 | 2.0 | nr | nr | 37.0 | nr | nr | X-ray | Quanjer 1983 | Quanjer 1993 |
| Garcia-Closas and Christiani 1995 [60] | CS | 631 | 541 | construction/millwright | 20.0 | 10.2 | nr | nr | 33.1 | 24.1 | 21.3 | X-ray | ATS 1987 | Crapo 1981 |
| Hall and Cissik 1982 [24] | CS | 135 | 113 | diverse | #18.0 | 11.2 | nr | nr | 40.7 | #21.2 | 19.5 | X-ray | (ATS) OSHA 1978 | Knudson 1983 |
| Harkin et al. 1996 [73] | CS | 107 | 37 | diverse | nr | nr | 32.5 | 9.5§ | 21.6 | 29.2 | 23.3§ | X-Ray/HRCT | ATS 1986 | Knudson 1983 |
| Jarad et al. 1992 [74] | CS | 60 | 60 | diverse | 10m | 1-35r | 34m | 21-60r | 13.3 | 21m | 0-76r | X-Ray/HRCT | ATS 1979 (Cotes) | Cotes 1979 |
| Kee et al. 1996 [75] | CC | 1150 | 93 | shipyard/construction | 25.5 | 12.1 | 41 | 11.3 | nr | 23.9 | 25.7 | HRCT | ATS 1987 | Crapo 1981; ATS 1987 |
| Kouris et al. 1991 [76] | CS | 996 | 913 | ceiling and wall | 8.4 | 6.1 | 26.8 | 5.1 | nr | 17.6 | 19.1 | X-ray | ATS 1979 | Crapo 1981 |
| Lilis et al. 1991 [59]* | CS | 2790 | 1536 | asbestos insulation | nr | nr | 35.1 | 7.2§ | 46.6 | nr | nr | X-ray | ATS 1987 | ATS 1987 |
| Nakadate et al. 1995 [77] | FU | 242 | 27 | asbestos industry | nr | nr | nr | nr | 26.9 | nr | nr | X-ray | ATS 1978 | Pneumoconiosis law of Japan 1978 |
| Neri et al. 1996 [25] | CS | 119 | 38 | diverse | 10.9 | 6.1 | 24.5 | 5.7 | 26.3 | 14.0 | 11.9 | X-Ray/HRCT | ATS 1987 | Paoletti 1985 |
| Niebecker at al. 1995 [9] | CS | 382 | 194 | diverse | nr | nr | nr | nr | 28.9 | nr | nr | X-ray | according to ERS/ATS | EGKS 1971 |
| Ohar et al. 2004 [4] | CS | 3383 | 3240 | diverse | nr | nr | 41.1 | 10.3 | 21.8 | 38.9 | 29.4 | X-ray | ATS 1987 | ATS 1987 |
| Oldenburg et al. 2001 [26] | CS | 43 | 43 | diverse | 30.7 | nr | nr | nr | 27.9 | nr | nr | X-ray and CT | ATS 1987 | Brändli 1996 |
| Oliver et al. 1988 [56] | CS | 383 | 359 | railway | 29.2 | 13.4 | 35.6 | 15.0 | 26.2 | 23.4 | 25.1 | X-ray | ATS 1979,1987 | Crapo 1981 |
| Paris et al. 2004 [17] | CS | 706 | 51 | asbestos industry | 24.9 | 9.1 | nr | nr | #31.4 | nr | nr | X-ray/HRCT | ATS 1986 | Quanjer 1993 |
| Petrovic et al. 2004 [18] | CS | 120 | 120 | asbestos cement fabric | 20.0 | 9.8 | nr | nr | 100 | - | - | X-ray | CECA 1972 | Quanjer 1993 |
| Piirilä et al. 2005 [78] | CS | 590 | 367 | diverse | #25.7 | 9.4 | nr | nr | 3.0 | #21.0 | 13.7 | HRCT | ERS (Quanjer 1992) | Viljanen 1982 |
| Prince et al. 2008 [79] | CS | 19 | 19 | diverse | nr | nr | nr | nr | 15.8 | 23.5 | 14.5 | X-ray/CT | ATS 2005 | Knudson 1983 |
| Robins and Green 1988 [57] | CS | 182 | 73 | asbestos industry | 30.2 | nr | nr | nr | 18.8 | 22.9 | 16.3 | X-ray | Crapo 1981 | Crapo 1981 |
| Rösler and Woitowitz 1990 [19] | CS | 144 | 20 | diverse | 15.6 | 6.0 | nr | nr | 100 | - | - | X-ray | according to ERS/ATS | Quanjer 1983 |
| Rui et al. 2004 [61] | FU | 103 | 103 | diverse | 25.0 | 7.0 | nr | nr | 36.0 | nr | nr | HRCT | CECA 1971 | Quanjer 1983 |
| Schwartz et al. 1990 [58] | CS | 1211 | 1209 | sheet metal | 32.7 | 6.7 | nr | nr | 20.3 | 26.9 | 29.4 | X-ray | ATS 1972 | Knudson 1983 |
| Schwartz et al. 1993 [33] | CS | 60 | 60 | sheet metal | >= 1 | nr | >= 20 | nr | 22.0 | 28.2 | 23.0 | X-ray | ATS 1979 | Moris 1971; Goldman 1959 |
| Sette et al. 2004 [80] | CS | 87 | 82 | cement/chrysotile miner | #13.4 | 11.7 | nr | nr | nr | #30.7 | 21.9 | CT | ATS 1995 | Pereira 1992 |
| Vierikko et al. 2010 [81] | CS | 627 | 86 | diverse | #18.2 | 11.7 | #43.3 | 6,7 | #16,9 | #15.5 | 16,9 | HRCT | according to ERS/ATS | Viljanen 1982 |
| Zejda 1989 [82] | CS | 81 | 56 | asbestos cement industry | 17.4 | 6.9 | nr | nr | 16.1 | nr | nr | X-ray | CECA 1965 | Quanjer 1993 |
Main characteristics of the Studies included in the meta-analysis. SD: standard deviation, CI: confidence interval CC: Case-control, CS: Cross-sectional; FU: follow-up; nr: not reported; m: median; r: range; X-Ray: chest X-ray; HRCT: high resolution computer tomography; CT: computer tomography; #:for the included subjects; §: calculated from SE. *Additional information obtained from [83]