Worker Health Chartbook 2004

National Occupational Respiratory Mortality System (NORMS)

NORMS is a data storage and retrieval system developed and maintained by NIOSH. The National Surveillance System for Pneumoconiosis Mortality (NSSPM), which is the precursor to NORMS, is now a component of it. These data are a compilation of NCHS multiple-cause-of-death records for the following respiratory conditions:

Deaths for these conditions are defined on the basis of World Health Organization (WHO) International Classification of Diseases coding categories: ICD–8 (WHO 1967) from 1968–1979 and ICD–9 (WHO 1977) from 1979–1998. Since 1999, ICD–10 (WHO 1992) codes specific to each condition have been used.

NORMS provides statistics for the surveillance of occupational respiratory diseases in an easily accessible, user-friendly format and is the source for much of the mortality data presented in the 1999 and 2002 Work Related Lung Disease Surveillance (WoRLD) reports. The data are a subset of national mortality data obtained annually from NCHS since 1968. NORMS contains death certificate information for all U.S. residents aged 15 and older identified with any of the previously mentioned respiratory conditions as the underlying cause or a contributing cause of death. Additional information includes age, race, sex, and State and county of residence at the time of death.

The All 50 States query is designed to generate a variety of summary statistics in the form of tables, charts, and maps. Examples of the types of statistics that this application generates are counts of deaths, crude and age-adjusted mortality rates, and years of potential life lost by year, age group, race, sex, underlying cause, contributing cause, or any mention of death at the national, State, and county levels since 1968. Data from additional sources, such as population statistics, comparative standard population, and life-table values are incorporated into the system.

The Industry/Occupation query generates only tabular counts of deaths and years of potential life lost by usual industry/occupation, year, age group, race, sex, underlying cause, contributing cause, or any mention of death for a selected list of States (and years), but only for 1985–1999. Proportionate mortality ratios (PMRs) by usual industry/occupation are likewise available by age group, race, sex, underlying cause, contributing cause, or any mention of death but only at the national level and only for specific time intervals.

For further information, contact

Public Health Surveillance Team
Surveillance Branch
Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
1095 Willowdale Road, MS–HG900
Morgantown, WV 26505–2888
Telephone: 304–285–6115

Worker Health Chartbook 2004

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