Am J Public Health. 2026 May 14:e1-e4. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2026.308528. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Objectives. To describe mortality rates by occupation among working-age men in the United States in 2022 and 2023. Methods. I obtained data on the occupation of decedents from death certificate data published by the National Center for Health Statistics for men aged 20 to 64 years. I calculated mortality rates and rate ratios for occupation groups. Results. Mortality rates were more than double for construction and extraction workers compared with all other workers. Mortality rates and rate ratios for workers in manual, blue-collar occupations were significantly higher than those for workers in other occupations. Conclusions. There were notably higher mortality rates for workers in manual, blue-collar occupations. Occupation groups with higher mortality rates also generally had a larger share of men in their workforce. Public Health Implications. Further research should examine work-related risk factors for occupational disparities in all-cause mortality. The workplace can be a convenient setting for interventions to prevent premature death among working-age men. Including occupation at the time of death in public health data can improve the validity and precision of future studies of the occupational causes of mortality. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print May 14, 2026:e1-e4. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2026.308528).
PMID:42133997 | DOI:10.2105/AJPH.2026.308528
