Occupational Medical History Taking: How Are Today’s Physicians Doing? A Cross-Sectional Investigation of the Frequency of Occupational History Taking by Physicians in a Major US Teaching Center

Details

• Personal Author:
  Arena VC ; Politi BJ ; Schwerha J ; Sussman N
• Description:
  Occupational illness plays a prominent role in the health of society, yet physicians frequently neglect occupational history-taking both in clinical practice and in medical education. This study sought to examine the trends as well as related factors that influence the taking of occupationally related histories. A total of 2050 charts were reviewed for occupational information as well as several patient demographics. Physicians obtained gender and age histories in approximately 99% of their patients; however; they only completed an occupational history in 27.8%. Characteristics such as smoking, mate gender, family cancer history, middle age, and medical (vs. surgical) admission were all correlated with obtaining an occupational history. Physicians continue to do a poor job of occupational history-taking and medical education must correct the situation. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Demography Occupational Health Safety Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  Demographic-characteristics Health-care Medical-examinations Questionnaires Surveillance-programs
• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  46
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20033671
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Med 2004 Jun; 46(6):550-555
• Contact Point Address:
  Joseph J. Schwerha, MD, MPH, University of Pittsburgh, Room A716 De Soto St. Pittsburgh, PA 15261
• Email:
  schwer@pitt.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2004
• Performing Organization:
  University of Pittsburgh
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20010701
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20060630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:dc2ccce6a26a2b6183acb8ec042773e177e8eb2513724210783dd8e77f0e4d032bd5c10e6aea62d85c4f5582c326aa61e850e30310615f120e5d72c563c744e5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/189151/cdc_189151_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 170.37 KB ]