A hospital occupational diseases unit: an experience to increase the recognition of occupational disease.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Benavides FG ; Delclos GL ; Ramada JM ; Serra C ; Ubalde-López M
• Description:
  Background: Under-reporting and recognition of occupational diseases is a problem in countries with workers' compensation schemes. Objective: To describe the role of a public hospital Occupational Disease Unit (ODU) in Barcelona that resulted in improved reporting and official recognition of occupational diseases from 2010 to 2017. Methods: Hospital physicians referred possible cases of work-related disease to the ODU, where in-depth medical evaluations were then performed, and a detailed report addressing causation was generated. Patients with confirmed cases of occupational disease were counselled and followed while pursuing official recognition and benefits claims by the Spanish Social Security System. Results: Between 2010 and 2017, 149 cases were referred to the ODU for evaluation. Of these, 80 (53.7%) were confirmed to have an occupational disease, 54 (67.5%) patients pursued official recognition, and to date 26 (48.1%) have been recognized by the Social Security System. The recognition rate varied by diagnosis group (p=0.003), and was highest for skin diseases (71.4%) and cancer (66.7%), and lowest for hearing loss (29.4%) and musculoskeletal disorders (16.7%). Conclusions: A hospital ODU can improve reporting and official recognition of occupational diseases that otherwise might not have been recognized. Expanding this experience to other Spanish and European hospitals could improve the efficiency of workers' compensation schemes and better support preventive policies. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Delivery Of Health Care Occupational Diseases Occupational Health Preventive Medicine Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Occupational Medicine; Social Security; Occupational Disease; Work-related Disease Occupational Diseases; Workers Compensation; Medical Care; Occupational Medicine; Preventive Medicine;
• ISSN:
  0025-7818
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  278-284
• Volume:
  110
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065358
• Citation:
  Med Lav 2019 Aug; 110(4):278-284
• Contact Point Address:
  Fernando G. Benavides MD, PhD, Centre for Research in Occupational Health, Universitat Pompeu Fabra/Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, PRBB building 1st floor, Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona (Spain)
• Email:
  fernando.benavides@upf.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Performing Organization:
  University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  La Medicina del Lavoro
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8e4730045e6f8e10911d207b684d3d26c4528293fb6255e22d4e7b82db00601e4425d87fb5af511751df2e41f879b6e29c78144b66f1eac4af702cf9389769e8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/248583/cdc_248583_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 908.90 KB ]