Cohort Profile: The Korean Radiation Workers Study (KRWS).

The Korean Radiation Workers Study (KRWS) cohort was established in 2022 to assess the risk of cancer and non-cancer diseases due to occupational radiation exposure. The cohort consists of 196,379 workers, with the majority being men and around 60% born before 1980. Data on cancer, non-cancer diseases, cause of death, and various confounders were obtained from national resources. The study aims to update radiation doses and disease status every 5-10 years and welcomes proposals for further data analyses. The study found that 3.1% of workers had been diagnosed with cancer, with thyroid cancer being the most prevalent type. The most common causes of death were malignant neoplasms, external causes, and circulatory diseases. The incidence of cancer and mortality was higher in men, except for thyroid cancer, which was more common in women. The cohort provided a total of 2.5 million person-years for cancer incidence and 2.8 million person-years for mortality. The Korean Radiation Workers Study (KRWS) is a large-scale national cohort study that aims to investigate the long-term health effects of radiation exposure in Korean workers. The cohort includes both retired and newly hired workers and is designed for long-term follow-up. The study collects comprehensive health information from national registries, ensuring accuracy and completeness of data. The cohort has strengths such as regular updates, availability of confounding factors, and monitoring of cancer incidence. However, limitations include a relatively small [Extracted from the article]