Cardiovascular effects of carbon disulfide: meta-analysis of cohort studies.

Objectives were to review the evidence of cardiovascular effects of carbon disulfide (CS2) on exposed workers from different cohort studies. Databases searched included MEDLINE, TOXLINE, and OSHtM Database (CD-ROM). Reference lists of reports and reviews were also searched. To be included in the analysis, a study had to have been a cohort study on cardiovascular effects of carbon disulfide with at least one outcome of interest. Every report was independently read using the Lichtenstein scale, General information of each study and relative risk estimates were calculated with 95% confidence intervals using the fixed-effects model. Pooled relative risks were calculated by the Dersimonian-Laird method basing on the random-effects model. Eleven cohort studies were identified in an extensive literature review. Pooled RR value was 1.56 and its 95% confidence interval was from 1.12 to 2.1, which showed CS2 exposure has feeble correlation with the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. It is proved that meta-analysis is a sensitive method for combining different results in occupational epidemiology.