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. 2018 Jan 19;67(2):60–65. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6702a2

TABLE 2. Industries and occupations with ≥25 asthma* deaths among persons aged 15–64 years, by sex — 26 states, 1999, 2003, 2004, and 2007–2012.

Characteristic No. of deaths PMR§,¶ (95% CI)
Industry
Male (n = 1,079)
Food, beverage, and tobacco products manufacturing
29
1.82 (1.22–2.61)**
Other retail trade
69
1.65 (1.29–2.10)**
Miscellaneous manufacturing
66
1.45 (1.13–1.86)**
Arts, entertainment and recreation
29
1.30 (0.88–1.87)
Public administration
52
1.09 (0.83–1.45)
Health care
40
1.04 (0.74–1.42)
Repair and maintenance
46
1.01 (0.73–1.34)
Professional, scientific, technical and management services
34
1.00 (0.69–1.39)
Transportation and warehousing
89
0.98 (0.79–1.21)
Accommodation and food services
66
0.96 (0.75–1.23)
Educational services
29
0.95 (0.64–1.37)
Construction
184
0.92 (0.79–1.07)
Transportation equipment
28
0.78 (0.52–1.12)
Administrative and support, and waste management services
36
0.66 (0.46–0.91)
All other industries
282

Female (n = 1,230)
Social assistance
49
1.35 (1.00–1.79)**
Arts, entertainment and recreation
26
1.29 (0.84–1.89)
Food and beverage stores
27
1.19 (0.78–1.73)
Private households
31
1.16 (0.79–1.64)
Health care
279
1.12 (1.00–1.27)
Other retail trade
96
1.10 (0.89–1.34)
Public administration
69
1.06 (0.83–1.35)
Accommodation and food services
116
1.01 (0.84–1.21)
Administrative and support, and waste management services
42
0.97 (0.70–1.31)
Transportation and warehousing
37
0.90 (0.63–1.24)
Finance and Insurance
48
0.90 (0.66–1.19)
Personal and laundry services
29
0.86 (0.58–1.24)
Educational services
94
0.85 (0.69–1.04)
Miscellaneous manufacturing
29
0.75 (0.50–1.07)
Professional, scientific, technical and management services
35
0.66 (0.46–0.92)
All other industries
223

Occupation
Male (n = 1,087)
Office and administrative support occupations
62
1.25 (0.97–1.61)
Other production occupations, including supervisors
51
1.21 (0.91–1.61)
Sales and related occupations
89
1.17 (0.95–1.45)
Laborers and material movers, hand
92
1.09 (0.88–1.34)
Motor vehicle operators
74
1.07 (0.85–1.36)
Metal workers and plastic workers
35
0.95 (0.66–1.33)
Food preparation and serving related occupations
46
0.91 (0.66–1.21)
Construction trades workers
149
0.89 (0.76–1.05)
Management occupations, except agricultural
61
0.89 (0.69–1.15)
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations
54
0.88 (0.67–1.16)
Electrical equipment mechanics and other installation, maintenance, and repair workers
26
0.85 (0.56–1.25)
Vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers
32
0.82 (0.56–1.15)
All other occupations
316

Female (n = 1,239)
Community and social services occupations
36
1.46 (1.02–2.01)**
Laborers and material movers, hand
47
1.19 (0.88–1.59)
Healthcare support occupations
110
1.15 (0.95–1.39)
Food preparation and serving related occupations
100
1.12 (0.92–1.37)
Personal care and service occupations
75
1.09 (0.87–1.38)
Sales and related occupations
134
1.09 (0.92–1.30)
Health diagnosing and treating practitioners and technical occupations
59
1.00 (0.77–1.31)
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations
62
1.00 (0.78–1.30)
Management occupations, except agricultural
85
0.99 (0.80–1.24)
Business operations specialists
25
0.96 (0.62–1.42)
Education, training, and library occupations
70
0.93 (0.73–1.18)
Health technologists and technicians
28
0.91 (0.61–1.32)
Office and administrative support occupations
186
0.90 (0.77–1.04)
All other occupations 222

Abbreviations: CI = confidence interval; PMR = proportionate mortality ratio.

* Decedents who had the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision codes J45 (asthma) or J46 (status asthmaticus) assigned as the underlying cause of death (i.e., the disease or injury that initiated the chain of morbid events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury).

Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. States represent the state where the death took place.

§ PMR is defined as the observed number of deaths from asthma in a specified industry/occupation, divided by the expected number of deaths from asthma. The expected number of deaths is the total number of deaths in industry or occupation of interest multiplied by a proportion defined as the number of asthma deaths in all industries or occupations, divided by the total number of deaths in all industries/occupations. The asthma PMRs were internally adjusted by 5-year age groups and race. CIs were calculated assuming Poisson distribution of the data.

Retired, unemployed, and unpaid (229 males and 687 females) and unknown or not reported (90 males and 78 females) workers in industries, and retired, students, volunteers, homemakers and unemployed (233 males and 688 females) and unknown or not reported (78 males and 68 females) occupations were excluded from PMR analyses.

** Statistically significant elevated PMR.