Anaesthetic health hazards among belgian nurses and physicians

Summary A questionnaire study was undertaken among Belgian nurses and physicians with the aim of evaluating whether there is a risk to the health of those persons whose professional life is spent in the operating theatre. Two professional groups occupied in operating theatre were chosen for study; firstly, the membership of the Belgian Society of Anaesthetics and, secondly, operating theatre nurses in Belgium. The control groups chosen for the anaesthetists were the membership of the Belgian Society of Dermatologists and the Belgian Society of Occupational Physicians. The control groups chosen for the operating theatre nurses were nurses working in intensive care units and a small group of social nurses.A total of 1,027 questionnaires was employed for the study and the number of pregnancies studied was 1910. The results did not indicate any statistically significant effects on pregnancy attributable to work in the operating theatre. With the possible exception of more frequent headaches, the health of operating theatre personnel does not seem to have been adversely affected by volatile anaesthetics.