Occupational sentinel health events: an up-dated list for physician recognition and public health surveillance |
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Authors: | R J Mullan L I Murthy |
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Institution: | Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control, Cincinnati, OH 45226. |
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Abstract: | An occupational sentinel health event (SHEO]) is a disease, disability, or untimely death, which is occupationally related and whose occurrence may: 1) provide the impetus for epidemiologic or industrial hygiene studies; or 2) serve as a warning signal that materials substitution, engineering control, personal protection, or medical care may be required. Following survey of scientific literature, a list of 50 disease conditions linked to the workplace was presented in 1983; these were codable within the framework of the International Classification of Diseases system (ICD-9). Three criteria were used for inclusion: documentation of associated agent(s), of involved industries, and of involved occupations. The up-dated list contains 64 diseases or conditions and a bibliography of literature citations. The list is useful for the practicing physician in occupational disease recognition, for occupational morbidity and mortality surveillance, and as a periodically up-dated database of occupationally related diseases. |
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Keywords: | occupational disease prevention occupational disease surveillance epidemiology occupational mortality surveillance |
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