Article Text
Abstract
Periodic medical examinations are typically carried out in the context of a general health examination and an occupational health examination. In Thailand, government hospitals are not required to provide occupational health examinations, because these hospitals do not fall under the protection of Thai labour law. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the current practice of occupational health examinations in Thai government hospitals. The survey was conducted in August, 2011. The self-administrated questionnaire was sent by post to each government hospital. The questionnaire included information on demographic data of the hospital, 14 selected factors, and the activities regarding occupational health examinations. There were 465 hospitals participating in this study. Both percentage and multiple logistic regressions were utilised for statistical analyses. The results revealed that 82.6% (384/465) of Thai government hospitals conducted health examinations based on occupational risks to their healthcare workers. The uses that hospitals made of the results from their occupational health examinations were, from highest to lowest percentage, 93% (357/384) to compare to previous results, 82% (315/384) to use in OHS activities, 48.7% (187/384) to use for hospital accreditation, and 15.6% (60/384) to conduct research. The factors of significance related to the health examinations in their hospitals were as follows: medium-sized hospitals (adjusted odds ratio = 8.96; 95% CI = 2.04–39.30), the OHS support from the hospital’s administration (adjusted odds ratio = 3.60; 95% CI = 1.69–7.65), and OHS risk assessment activity (adjusted odds ratio = 4.87; 95% CI = 2.28–10.41). In conclusion, hospitals where periodic occupational health examinations are not given as well as other relevant parties should initiate strategies to develop this examination for their healthcare workers to ensure their good health. Hospitals already providing this service should carefully consider how they use the data from their occupational examinations to raise their cost-effectiveness.