dc.contributor.author | Rahu, Kaja | |
dc.contributor.author | Rahu, Mati | |
dc.contributor.author | Zeeb, Hajo | |
dc.contributor.author | Auvinen, Anssi | |
dc.contributor.author | Bromet, Evelyn | |
dc.contributor.author | Boice Jr, John D. D. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2023-02-13T20:37:13Z | |
dc.date.available | 2023-02-13T20:37:13Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2023-01-07 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Rahu, K., Rahu, M., Zeeb, H. et al. Suicide and other causes of death among Chernobyl cleanup workers from Estonia, 1986 − 2020: an update. Eur J Epidemiol 38, 225–232 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-022-00957-3 | en_US |
dc.identifier.issn | 0393-2990 | |
dc.identifier.other | eISSN 1573-7284 | |
dc.identifier.other | PubMed ID36609895 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1803/17997 | |
dc.description.abstract | Mortality was studied in a cohort of 4831 men from Estonia who participated in the environmental cleanup of the radioac-tively contaminated areas around Chernobyl in 1986-1991. Their mortality in 1986-2020 was compared with the mortality in the Estonian male population. A total of 1503 deaths were registered among the 4812 traced men. The all-cause standard-ized mortality ratio (SMR) was 1.04 (95% CI 0.99-1.09). All-cancer mortality was elevated (SMR 1.16, 95% CI 1.03-1.28). Radiation-related cancers were in excess (SMR 1.20, 95% CI 1.03-1.36); however, the excesses could be attributed to tobacco and alcohol consumption. For smoking-related cancers, the SMR was 1.20 (95% CI 1.06-1.35) and for alcohol-related cancers the SMR was 1.56 (95% CI 1.26-1.86). Adjusted relative risks (ARR) of all-cause mortality were increased among workers who stayed in the Chernobyl area >= 92 days (ARR 1.20, 95% CI 1.08-1.34), were of non-Estonian ethnicity (ARR 1.33, 95% CI 1.19-1.47) or had lower (basic or less) education (ARR 1.63, 95% CI 1.45-1.83). Suicide mortality was increased (SMR 1.31, 95% CI 1.05-1.56), most notably among men with lower education (ARR 2.24, 95% CI 1.42-3.53). Our find-ings provide additional evidence that unhealthy behaviors such as alcohol and smoking play an important role in shaping cancer mortality patterns among Estonian Chernobyl cleanup workers. The excess number of suicides suggests long-term psychiatric and substance use problems tied to Chernobyl-related stressors, i.e., the psychosocial impact was greater than any direct carcinogenic effect of low-dose radiation. | en_US |
dc.description.sponsorship | The authors declare that no funds, grants or other financial support were received for conducting the current stage of study or for the preparation of this manuscript. However, previous support for the study was provided by the Estonian Ministry of Education and Science (target funding SF 0940026s07), and the US National Cancer Institute (Contract N01-CP-85638-03). | en_US |
dc.language.iso | en_US | en_US |
dc.publisher | European Journal Of Epidemiology | en_US |
dc.rights | This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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dc.source.uri | https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10654-022-00957-3.pdf | |
dc.subject | Chernobyl | en_US |
dc.subject | Cleanup workers | en_US |
dc.subject | Cohort | en_US |
dc.subject | Estonia | en_US |
dc.subject | Mortality | en_US |
dc.subject | Suicide | en_US |
dc.title | Suicide and other causes of death among Chernobyl cleanup workers from Estonia, 1986-2020: an update | en_US |
dc.type | Article | en_US |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1007/s10654-022-00957-3 | |