Occupational solvent exposure and mental disorders

Abstract

A case-referent study was designed to investigate the relationship between occupational solvent exposure and mental disorders. New cases of mental disorder (males, 40 to 69 years old), were individually matched for age and date of admission to hospital patients and neighbors. An occupational history was obtained from 91.7% of the sample (1143 subjects, or 381 'trios'), during a telephone interview or by mail.No increased risk of mental disorders was found among subjects exposed to moderate levels of solvents, but the risk was elevated--though not to a statistically significant degree--at exposure to high levels. When diagnoses were divided into psychotic (ICD-9 codes 290-299) and non-psychotic (ICD-9 codes 300-316), the latter group presented an increased risk with exposure to high levels of solvents (odds ratio = 2.43, 90% C.I. = 1.16-5.08). No systematic exposure-response relationship was demonstrated, although there was a suggestion of increased risk of mental disorders among subjects exposed to high levels for 5 to 9 years.Various aspects of referent selection--with a specific comparison of hospital and population referents--were also examined as a methodological issue of case-referent studies