Applications of Occupational Epidemiology

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bang KM
• Description:
  The general applications of epidemiology to the field of occupational health were reviewed. The three major types of epidemiological studies, descriptive, analytical, and experimental, were discussed. Occupational epidemiological studies included observational studies, such as the cohort, case/control, and cross sectional strategies, and experimental studies. Both prospective and retrospective cohort morbidity and mortality study designs were considered useful and effective in occupational epidemiology. However, the expense, time consumption, and large study size were viewed as limitations of the cohort study. Case/control studies were regarded as especially useful when either the disease of interest was rare or several occupations or exposures were related to the disease of interest. Limitations of this study design were listed as weak exposure estimation techniques, indirect calculation of incidence rates, and selection and recall biases. Cross sectional studies were considered appropriate for investigating subtle health effects which may not be officially recorded, generating hypotheses, and planning health services. Ecologic study designs were described as crude methods for determining the relationships between either occupation or environment and disease. Meta analysis was the systematic pooling of data from multiple studies in order to generate comprehensive conclusions. The importance of routine occupational surveillance for the establishment of program objectives, public policies, research priorities, and prevention strategies was also discussed. Molecular epidemiology was considered increasingly important with the continued application of biomarkers. The author concludes that while scientific advances may alter the epidemiological approaches, the primary aims of occupational epidemiology will continue to be the identification, validation, and prevention of occupational diseases. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Morbidity Mortality Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Safety Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  Biological-monitoring Health-surveys Humans Morbidity-rates Mortality-data NIOSH-Author Occupational-diseases Occupational-exposure Risk-analysis Surveillance-programs
• ISBN:
  9781560532262
• ISSN:
  0885-114X
• Publisher:
  Hanley and Belfus, Inc.
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  381-391
• Volume:
  11
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00235985
• Citation:
  Occup Med: State of the Art Rev 1996 Jul; 11(3):381-391
• Editor(s):
  Bang KM
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1996
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational Medicine: State of the Art Reviews. Occupational Epidemiology
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:eee2687f2aaf8700ed75b1b29dbb8da1c6a95862ec15a1d0036eb79c3f7159a9b35da55e7e0c05277e453124e7039a0ecd69a3a4c699bd6ab66f425e5e213308
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/197807/cdc_197807_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 998.16 KB ]