TheCumulative RiskofTuberculin SkinTestConversion forFiveYearsofHospital Employment

We studied tuberculin skintest conversions ina cohort of550newemployees followed forfive years after assign- menttoadult inpatient services atCharity Hospital atNewOrleans, Louisiana. There were17knownconversions, anoverall five-year cumulative probability ofconverting of5.2percent. Proportional hazards regression analysis found that race andtype ofjob(nursing vsother) wereindependent explanatory variables. Toexamine further thejobeffect, wecompared theconversion curves forBlacks innursing andBlacks inother jobsandfound those innursing to havehigher rates. (AmJPublic Health 1986; 76:65-67.)