Tuberculosis mortality by occupation in South Africa, 2011–2015

Work-related tuberculosis (TB) remains a public health concern in low-and middle-income countries. The use of vital registration data for monitoring TB deaths by occupation has been unexplored in South Africa. Using underlying cause of death and occupation data for 2011 to 2015 from Statistics South Africa, age-standardised mortality rates (ASMRs) were calculated for all persons of working age (15 to 64 years) by the direct method using the World Health Organization (WHO) standard population. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to calculate mortality odds ratios (MORs) for occupation groups, adjusting for age, sex, year of death, province of death, and smoking status. Of the 221,058 deaths recorded with occupation data, 13% were due to TB. ASMR for TB mortality decreased from 165.9 to 88.8 per 100,000 population from 2011 to 2015. An increased risk of death by TB was observed among elementary occupations: agricultural labourers (MOR _adj = 3.58, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 2.96–4.32), cleaners (MOR _adj = 3.44, 95% CI 2.91–4.09), and refuse workers (MOR _adj = 3.41, 95% CI 2.88–4.03); among workers exposed to silica dust (MOR _adj = 3.37, 95% CI 2.83–4.02); and among skilled agricultural workers (MOR _adj = 3.31, 95% CI 2.65–4.19). High-risk TB occupations can be identified from mortality data. Therefore, TB prevention and treatment policies should be prioritised in these occupations.