ABSTRACT

1
Longest Held Job in US Occupational Groups 1986
1988 National Health Interview Surveys Orlando
Gómez-Marín MSc PhD, Lora E. Fleming MD PhD ,
William LeBlanc PhD, David J. Lee PhD, Terry
Pitman BS, Alberto Caban MPH University of Miami
School of Medicine Departments of Epidemiology
Public Health, and Pediatrics Study Website
www.rsmas.miami.edu/groups/niehs/niosh This
study was funded in part through a grant from the
National Institute of Occupational Safety and
Health (R01 OH03915) occupational photos by Dr
David Parker
RESULTS The present study found moderate
concordance between current and longest held job
in a large, population-based, representative
sample of US workers, with variations in this
concordance by gender, race-ethnicity and
occupational subgroups. The majority of the 13
and 41 occupational grouping categories had Kappa
gt 50.0. Some occupational categories and
subgroups reached levels as high as 71.2 0.4
when 13 broad occupational groups were
considered 85.6 1.4 for 41 more detailed
occupational categories and 92.7 2.6 for 206
detailed occupational categories. There was a
clear pattern of increased concordance for higher
paying jobs (such as professional specialties)
and decreased concordance for low paying jobs
(such as laborers), as seen previously in other
studies. Statistically significant differences
were observed between occupational groups, and
between gender and race-specific groups within
certain occupations.
ABSTRACT Objectives In occupational
epidemiologic research, data on current job are
often used as surrogate for longest held job and
its exposures. We evaluated concordance between
current and longest held jobs in a large,
population-based, representative sample of US
workers. Methods Cohens Kappa was used for
analyses of combined data from the 1986 NHIS
Supplement on Longest Held Job and the 1988 NHIS
Supplement on Occupational Health. Included were
over 49,000 workers, age 18 years and over, in
occupational groups with an estimated employment
of 100,000 persons or more. Analyses were
performed for different occupational categories
by gender, race, and ethnic subgroups. Results
Statistically significant percent Kappa values (
SE) were observed for all occupational groups and
ranged from 31.7 1.1 to 71.2 0.4 when 13
broad occupational categories were considered
from 25.6 2.3 to 85.6 1.4 for 41 more
detailed categories and from 9.2 3.1 to 92.7
2.6 for 206 detailed categories. Statistically
significant differences were observed between
occupational groups, and between gender and
race-specific Kappa values within certain
occupational groups. Conclusions The high
levels of agreement found in this large,
population-based, representative sample of US
workers indicate that for most occupational
categories current or most recent occupation and
industry could be used as a surrogate for longest
held job (and its exposures), particularly when
lifetime work histories are not available.
However, given the rapidly changing employment
patterns in the US and elsewhere, confirmatory
analyses using more current data are warranted in
the future.
METHODS The National Health Interview Survey,
conducted annually by the National Center for
Health Statistics, is a continuous, multipurpose,
and multistage area probability cross-sectional
survey of the US civilian non-institutionalized
population living at addressed dwellings. Two
occupational health related supplements, the 1986
"Longest Job Worked" supplement (n37,917) and
1988 "Occupational Health" supplement (n44,233),
provided information on current job, job during
the previous 12 months, and longest held
job. Concordance was assessed between reported
current and longest held occupation. Several
measures of agreement were considered, including
Burnett's approach (i.e. sensitivity), Dice's
Coincidence Index, and Cohens Kappa. Cohens
Kappa was found to be most appropriate for the
current analysis due to its ease of
interpretation, robustness, extensive use in the
literature, and availability of confidence
intervals. Those 206 occupations with an
average of 100,000 US workers/year in the period
1986-1994 were evaluated for concordance, as well
as 13 and 41 larger categories. As well, several
subgroups were analyzed 2 genders 3 ethnic
subgroups (Whites, Blacks, Others) 2 Hispanic
subgroups (Hispanics, non Hispanics).
CONCLUSIONS In general, moderate to high levels
of agreement between current and longest held
occupation were observed using data from a large,
population-based, representative sample of US
workers. The present results indicate that
current occupation can often be used as a
surrogate for longest held job (and its
exposures) when analyzing the NHIS data as well
as other occupational databases. However,
specific occupational subgroups, including gender
and race-ethnicity occupational subpopulations,
may have substantially decreased concordance,
particularly among the less skilled and lower
paying occupations. Finally, given the rapidly
changing employment patterns in the US and
elsewhere, confirmatory analyses using more
current data are warranted.