Current Status of Pneumoconiosis Patients in Korea

This study identifies the number of pneumoconiosis patients after eliminating deceased patients between 2003 and 2008 as of January 1st and estimates it for the next five years. From 2003 to 2008, the pneumoconiosis patients were 16,929, 17,224, 17,366, 17,566, 17,542, and 17,546, respectively. The number of pneumoconiosis patients will have increased by 1,014 from 2008 to 18,560 in 2013 after applying the average change rates taken from 2003 to 2007. It takes 15-20 yr to develop coal workers' pneumoconiosis (the main cause in Korea) and patients will continue to be diagnosed with pneumoconiosis for some years to come since it has only been 20 yr since the decline of the coal mining industry in Korea. In addition, pneumoconiosis patients are increasing in industries in which the risk of pneumoconiosis was relatively low shows the necessity to improve dust-exposed workplace environments.