Association of complete blood count parameters with the risk of incident pulmonary heart disease in pneumoconiosis: a retrospective cohort study

BackgroundPneumoconiosis mostly combines pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases, among which pulmonary heart disease (PHD) is of major concern due to its significant impact on the survival of pneumoconiosis patients. White cell count (WCC), red cell distribution width (RDW) and platelet parameters are thought to affect inflammatory responses and may be predictors of various cardiovascular diseases. However, very few studies have focused on PHD.ObjectivesTo examine the relationship between baseline complete blood count parameters (WCC, RDW, platelet parameters) and the risk of incident PHD in pneumoconiosis patients.DesignA retrospective cohort study.SettingThis was a single-centre, retrospective cohort study that used data from an Occupational Disease Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan.ParticipantsA total of 946 pneumoconiosis patients from January 2012 to November 2021 were included in the study. Female patients and patients who had PHD, coronary heart disease, hypertensive heart disease, cardiomyopathy, heart failure, oncological disease, multiple organ dysfunction, AIDS at baseline and follow-up time of less than 6 months were also excluded.Outcome measuresWe identified PHD according to the patient’s discharge diagnosis. We constructed Cox proportional hazard regression models to assess the HR of incident PHD in pneumoconiosis, as well as 95% CIs.ResultsIn the multiple Cox proportional hazard regression analysis, platelet count (PLT) and plateletcrit (PCT) above the median at baseline were associated with an increased risk of PHD in pneumoconiosis with adjusted HR of 1.52 (95% CI 1.09 to 2.12) and 1.42 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.99), respectively.ConclusionHigher baseline PLT and PCT are associated with a higher risk of PHD in pneumoconiosis.