Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Meeseon Jeong

3 Articles

Probability of causation for occupational cancer after exposure to ionizing radiation: Eun-A Kim, Eujin Lee, Seong-Kyu Kang, Meeseon Jeong; Ann Occup Environ Med 2018;30:3. Published online January 31, 2018; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40557-018-0220-5

Background

Probability of causation (PC) is a reasonable way to estimate causal relationships in radiation-related cancer. This study reviewed the international trend, usage, and critiques of the PC method. Because it has been used in Korea, it is important to check the present status and estimation of PC in radiation-related cancers in Korea.

Methods

Research articles and official reports regarding PC of radiation-related cancer and published from the 1980s onwards were reviewed, including studies used for the revision of the Korean PC program. PC has been calculated for compensation-related cases in Korea since 2005.

Results

The United States National Institutes of Health first estimated the PC in 1985. Among the 106 occupational diseases listed in the International Labor Organization Recommendation 194 (International Labor Office (ILO), ILO List of Occupational Diseases, 2010), PC is available only for occupational cancer after ionizing radiation exposure. The United States and United Kingdom use PC as specific criteria for decisions on the compensability of workers’ radiation-related health effects. In Korea, PC was developed firstly as Korean Radiation Risk and Assigned Share (KORRAS) in 1999. In 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute and Radiation Health Research Institute jointly developed a more revised PC program, Occupational Safety and Health-PC (OSH-PC). Between 2005 and 2015, PC was applied in 16 claims of workers’ compensation for radiation-related cancers. In most of the cases, compensation was given when the PC was more than 50%. However, in one case, lower than 50% PC was accepted considering the possibility of underestimation of the cumulative exposure dose.

Conclusions

PC is one of the most advanced tools for estimating the causation of occupational cancer. PC has been adjusted for baseline cancer incidence in Korean workers, and for uncertainties using a statistical method. Because the fundamental reason for under- or over-estimation is probably inaccurate dose reconstruction, a proper guideline is necessary.

Citations

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Reliability of a Questionnaire in an Epidemiological Study for Nuclear Power Plants Workers in Korea: Han Na Kim, Meeseon Jeong, Eun Sook Park, Su Jin Suh, Young Woo Jin; Korean Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2010;22(2):122-128. Published online June 30, 2010; DOI: https://doi.org/10.35371/kjoem.2010.22.2.122

Abstract PDF

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to evaluate the reliability of a questionnaire from an epidemiological study for nuclear power plants workers in Korea.
METHODS
Among a total of 8,832 nuclear power plants workers who participated in the questionnaire survey, we selected 646 workers who repeatedly submitted the self-reported questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire for the categorical items was measured using kappa statistics and percentages of exact agreement, false disagreement and positive disagreement. Significance was evaluated for the continuous items by paired t-tests and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs).
RESULTS
The questionnaire was observed to be highly reliable for the smoking history (kappa=0.85), which is known as an important confounding factor in assessing the cancer risk among radiation workers. Education level as a surrogate for the socio-economic status also appeared to be highly reliable with a kappa=0.89 and 95.09% of exact agreement. The history of alcohol drinking, medical exams and diseases showed more than moderately good agreement between the first and second responses (kappa>0.4). The self-reported values for physical measurements, the smoking period and smoking amount, and the period of alcohol drinking were highly correlated between the two responses (ICC>0.7).
CONCLUSIONS
The questionnaire from an epidemiological study for nuclear power plants workers in Korea was found to be reliable for most items. To estimate the cancer or noncancer risk for nuclear power plants workers, we need to use the national database for incidence of diseases or death from diseases and the exposure history, and the medical records as well as the data collected from this study.

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Reliability and Validity of a Nationwide Survey (the Korean Radiation Workers Study)
Dalnim Lee, Wan Young Lim, Soojin Park, Young Woo Jin, Won Jin Lee, Sunhoo Park, Songwon Seo
Safety and Health at Work.2021; 12(4): 445. CrossRef
The monetary value of the man-mSv for Korean NPP radiation workers assessed by the radiation aversion factor
B.-i. Lee, D.-h. Suh, S.-i. Kim, M.-s. Jeong, Y.-k. Lim
Radiation Protection Dosimetry.2012; 150(4): 516. CrossRef

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Use of Screening Dose to Evaluate the Work-relatedness of Cancers Occurring among Korean Radiation Workers: Meeseon Jeong, Young Woo Jin, Hyun Sul Lim, Chong Soon Kim; Korean Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2007;19(3):196-203. Published online September 30, 2007; DOI: https://doi.org/10.35371/kjoem.2007.19.3.196

Abstract PDF

OBJECTIVES
To propose a screening dose based on the probability of causation (PC) to simplify the evaluation procedure for the work-relatedness of the cancers occurring among Korean radiation workers.
METHODS
Under the PC uncertainty distribution, the screening dose was defined in which the maximum PC is equivalent to 50% for single exposure to radiation, after which the values were calculated according to three significance levels: 90%, 95%, and 99%. By using the screening doses for each cancer, we also predicted the number of compensations for the occupational cancers among the current Korean radiation workers to determine a reasonable criterion for the significance level.
RESULTS
If the cumulative dose received by a radiation worker with cancer is less than the screening dose, then PC can not be greater than 50%, i.e., the case can not be awarded as an occupational disease. The numbers of compensation cases for a future decade were predicted to be 3-5, 4-6, and 6-10 at the significance levels of 90%, 95%, and 99%, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS
The procedure to evaluate the occupational disease was greatly simplified by using the screening dose for evaluation. A criterion of 95% was recommended as the PC upper limit following consideration for the results of the predicted cases for compensation and the economic circumstances in Korea.

Citations

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The work-relatedness at a case of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in a radiation oncologist
Bong Hyun Kim, Young-Jun Kwon, Young-Su Ju, Bong Kyu Kim, Hyun Seok Lee, Sang-gil Lee, Yun Kyung Chung
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A case of chronic myeloid leukemia in a diagnostic radiographer
Chulyong Park, Sungyeul Choi, Dohyung Kim, Jaechan Park, Saerom Lee
Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.2014;[Epub] CrossRef
Ionizing Radiation-induced Diseases in Korea
Young-Woo Jin, Meeseon Jeong, Kieun Moon, Min-Heui Jo, Seong-Kyu Kang
Journal of Korean Medical Science.2010; 25(Suppl): S70. CrossRef
Health Disorders Caused by Physical Factors among Health Care Workers - Focusing on Ionizing Radiation -
Hyun-Sul Lim
Journal of the Korean Medical Association.2010; 53(6): 483. CrossRef

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