Date of filling in this questionnaire or last update: 12/01/2022
1. IDENTIFICATION & BASIC DESCRIPTION
Cohort name
The Pesticide Exposed Workers Study
Country
  • Australia
Name
Malcolm Sim
Institution
Monash University
Email
Malcolm.Sim@monash.edu
Personal website
https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/malcolm-sim
Do you want to add another Principal Investigator of the Cohort
  • Add another Principal Investigator of the cohort
Name
Geza Benke
Institution
Monash University
Email
Geza.Benke@monash.edu
Personal website
https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/geza-benke
Name
Ewan MacFarlane
Institution
Monash University
Email
Ewan.MacFarlane@monash.edu
Personal website
https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/ewan-macfarlane
Website
  • https://www.monash.edu/medicine/sphpm/coeh/research/pesticide-exposed-workers-study
Name of committee
Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (MUHREC)
Or provide website
  • https://www.monash.edu/medicine/sphpm/coeh/research/pesticide-exposed-workers-study
Main aim of cohort, please briefly describe the main objectives of the cohort
To determine the rates of mortality and of cancer incidence in a cohort of pesticide-exposed Australian workers.
Study design (please select as many as appropriate)
  • Retrospective cohort
Source population (please select as many as appropriate)
  • Industry / occupation-based
Comparators (please select as many as appropriate)
  • Internal study population
Inclusion criteria
This explores a large cohort of some 13,000 workers who were end-users of pesticides and participated in pesticide biomonitoring programs from the 1960s to the 1990s. Predominantly agricultural workers, this cohort also includes smaller groups of municipal and public utilities workers, and dedicated pest controllers. Linkage to the national cancer and death registries is used in this project to estimate rates of cancers and causes of death in the cohort compared with that of the general population, identifying trends associated with exposure. The cohort will be re-linked to the registries at periodic intervals (eg. five to ten years).
Enrollment
Ongoing
Age range at entry (main cohort)
Minimum Maximum Mean
18 65
Men at enrollment
11,131
Women at enrollment
1084
2. OUTCOME FOLLOW-UP
Type of data for outcome follow-up (please select as many as appropriate)
  • Death certificate
  • Disease incidence records
Death certificate (specify)
  • Linkage to the death registries is used in this project to estimate causes of death in the cohort compared with that of the general population, identifying trends associated with exposure. The cohort will be re-linked to the registries at periodic intervals (eg. five to ten years).
Disease incidence records (specify)
  • Linkage to the national cancer registries is used in this project to estimate rates of cancers in the cohort compared with that of the general population, identifying trends associated with exposure. The cohort will be re-linked to the registries at periodic intervals (eg. five to ten years).
First follow-up period (provide year)
5-10 years
3. OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURES
Source of exposure data collected (please select as many as appropriate)
  • Job-employment records
Occupational history/time frame
Current, at enrollment
Occupational coding performed
No
Methods for exposure assessment (please select as many as appropriate)
  • Expert assessment
Main categories
  • Pesticides
4. OUTCOMES EVALUATED
Baseline - type of outcome data collected (select more than one if applicable)
  • Questionnaire, individual (self-recording or interview)
Follow-up - type of outcome data collected (select more than one if applicable)
  • Death certificates
  • Registry-based
Registry-based
  • Cancer incidence
  • Mortality register
Outcome type (please select as many as appropriate)
  • Mortality
Diagnostic groups based on ICD10
  • C + D Neoplasms
  • I Cerebrovascular diseases
  • J Respiratory disease
  • K Diseases of oesophagus, stomach, duodenum and appendix
  • N Kidney, renal pelvis disease
C + D Neoplasms
  • Malignant neoplasms gastro intes. system including liver, gall bladder, pancreas
  • Malignant neoplasm lung
  • Malignant neoplasm of breast
  • Malignant neoplasms of male genital organs
  • Malignant neoplasm of urinary tract and kidney
  • Malignant neoplasms of thyroid and other endocrine glands
J Respiratory disease
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  • Asthma
6. Other Information
  • Demographics
  • Smoking
Possibility for linkage to data registries/data enrichment via data linkage
  • Cancer incidence
  • Mortality register