LATEBREAKER
Occupational
Identifying Emerging Issues in Work-related Chronic Disease through Research Partnerships: The NIOSH Chronic Disease Prevention Program Taylor Shockey* Taylor Shockey Raquel Velazquez-Kronen Lauralynn McKernan-Taylor Todd Stueckle Kim Anderson
Background: The National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) is an innovative partnership program designed to enhance occupational health research and workplace practices. The NIOSH Cancer, Reproductive, Cardiovascular, and Other Chronic Disease Prevention cross-sector (CRC) within NORA works with industry, labor, trade, and academic partners to reduce and prevent occupational chronic disease. The CRC reviewed its 2017 – 2023 program to assess research activity in order to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
Methods: Project plans with CRC goals were gathered from NIOSH databases, while published papers from these projects were identified through searches of scientific reference databases. Projects and papers were coded to each industry sector to evaluate research activity and outputs.
Results: From 2017-2023, 305 projects were funded across 35 CRC-related research activity goals involving 7 industry sectors. Projects examined a diverse range of topics including work stress and cardiovascular disease (CVD), per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances analysis of worker serum samples, and exposure to waste anesthetic gases within the healthcare sector. CRC research yielded important findings including identifying associations between maternal nail technician work during pregnancy and congenital heart defects, and shiftwork in police officers leading to biological changes that increase CVD risk. Areas for improved research effort included work organization interventions to reduce CVD in healthcare and transportation workers, and interventions to reduce adverse reproductive outcomes in service workers.
Conclusion: CRC projects continue to quantify workplace exposures, associated effects, and evaluate interventions to reduce chronic diseases. The CRC actively collaborates with labor, trade, industry professionals and researchers interested in occupational chronic diseases, and is currently seeking partnerships to establish a neurological and renal disease working group.