Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31915156›Full record

SynthesisBMJ open2020

Occupational exposure to silica and risk of heart disease: a systematic review with meta-analysis.

Kai Liu, Min Mu, Kehong Fang, Yuanyuan Qian, Song Xue, Weijiang Hu, Meng Ye

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 19% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Occupational exposure to dust and fumes increases risk for future adverse clinical outcomes.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2026
    Observational
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. [Analysis of Risk Factors of Chronic Pulmonary Heart Disease in Patients With Pneumoconiosis].Sichuan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Sichuan University. Medical science edition · 2024
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Kai LiuDepartment of Biomarkers and Molecular Epidemiology, National Institute of Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0001-6452-9980
Min MuDepartment of Public Health, School of Medicine, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, Anhui, China.
Kehong FangDepartment of Nutritional Epidemiology, National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
Yuanyuan QianDepartment of Biomarkers and Molecular Epidemiology, National Institute of Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
Song XueDepartment of Orthopaedics, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Weijiang HuDepartment of Occupational Epidemiology, National Institute of Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
Meng YeDepartment of Biomarkers and Molecular Epidemiology, National Institute of Occupational Health and Poison Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China yemeng@niohp.chinacdc.cn.
Chinese Center For Disease Control and Prevention · CNAnhui University of Science and Technology · CNShanghai Jiao Tong University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo search for evidence of the relationship between occupational silica exposure and heart disease.

designA systematic review and meta-analysis.

backgroundGrowing evidence suggests a relationship between occupational silica exposure and heart disease; however, the link between them is less clear. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, ScienceDirect, Springer and EMBASE were searched for articles published between 1 January 1995 and 20 June 2019. Articles that investigated the effects of occupational silica exposure on the risk of heart disease were considered. STUDY SELECTION: We included cohort studies, including prospective, retrospective and retroprospective studies. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: We extracted data using a piloted data collection form and conducted random-effects meta-analysis and exposure-response analysis. The meta-relative risk (meta-RR), a measure of the average ratio of heart disease rates in those with and without silica exposure, was used as an inverse variance-weighted average of relative risks from the individual studies. The Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale for cohort studies was used for study quality assessment. OUTCOME MEASURE: We calculated the risk of heart diseases such as pulmonary heart disease, ischaemic heart disease and others.

resultsTwenty cohort studies were included. The results suggest a significant increase in the risk of overall heart disease (meta-RR=1.08, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.13). Stronger evidence of association with pulmonary heart disease was found in the risk estimate of both categories of heart disease (meta-RR=1.24, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.43) and in the exposure-response analysis (meta-RR=1.39, 95% CI 1.19 to 1.62). Our subgroup analyses also revealed that the statistical heterogeneity among studies could be attributed mainly to the diversity in reference group, occupation and study quality score.

conclusionsSilica-exposed workers are at an increased risk for overall heart disease, especially pulmonary heart disease. Further research is needed to better clarify the relationship between occupational silica exposure and ischaemic heart disease. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42019124673.

Indexed as

Heart DiseasesHumansMyocardial IschemiaOccupational ExposurePulmonary Heart DiseaseRisk FactorsSilicon DioxideSilicon Dioxideheart diseaseoccupational exposuresilica

Identifiers

PMID31915156
PMCPMC6955526
OpenAlexW3000694450

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.