RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Trends in incidence of occupational asthma, contact dermatitis, noise-induced hearing loss, carpal tunnel syndrome and upper limb musculoskeletal disorders in European countries from 2000 to 2012
JF Occupational and Environmental Medicine
JO Occup Environ Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 294
OP 303
DO 10.1136/oemed-2014-102534
VO 72
IS 4
A1 S Jill Stocks
A1 Roseanne McNamee
A1 Henk F van der Molen
A1 Christophe Paris
A1 Pavel Urban
A1 Giuseppe Campo
A1 Riitta Sauni
A1 Begoña Martínez Jarreta
A1 Madeleine Valenty
A1 Lode Godderis
A1 David Miedinger
A1 Pascal Jacquetin
A1 Hans M Gravseth
A1 Vincent Bonneterre
A1 Maylis Telle-Lamberton
A1 Lynda Bensefa-Colas
A1 Serge Faye
A1 Godewina Mylle
A1 Axel Wannag
A1 Yogindra Samant
A1 Teake Pal
A1 Stefan Scholz-Odermatt
A1 Adriano Papale
A1 Martijn Schouteden
A1 Claudio Colosio
A1 Stefano Mattioli
A1 Raymond Agius
A1 Working Group 2; Cost Action IS1002—Monitoring trends in Occupational Diseases and tracing new and Emerging Risks in a NETwork (MODERNET)
YR 2015
UL http://oem.bmj.com/content/72/4/294.abstract
AB Objectives The European Union (EU) strategy for health and safety at work underlines the need to reduce the incidence of occupational diseases (OD), but European statistics to evaluate this common goal are scarce. We aim to estimate and compare changes in incidence over time for occupational asthma, contact dermatitis, noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and upper limb musculoskeletal disorders across 10 European countries. Methods OD surveillance systems that potentially reflected nationally representative trends in incidence within Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the UK provided data. Case counts were analysed using a negative binomial regression model with year as the main covariate. Many systems collected data from networks of ‘centres’, requiring the use of a multilevel negative binomial model. Some models made allowance for changes in compensation or reporting rules. Results Reports of contact dermatitis and asthma, conditions with shorter time between exposure to causal substances and OD, were consistently declining with only a few exceptions. For OD with physical causal exposures there was more variation between countries. Reported NIHL was increasing in Belgium, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands and decreasing elsewhere. Trends in CTS and upper limb musculoskeletal disorders varied widely within and between countries. Conclusions This is the first direct comparison of trends in OD within Europe and is consistent with a positive impact of European initiatives addressing exposures relevant to asthma and contact dermatitis. Taking a more flexible approach allowed comparisons of surveillance data between and within countries without harmonisation of data collection methods.