Surveillance of occupational lung disease: comparison of hospital discharge data to physician reporting.

A survey of 762 New Jersey physicians showed that 35% reported seeing patients with either asbestosis, coal worker's pneumoconiosis, occupational asthma or silicosis. Three to four times as many patients with these diagnoses were seen as outpatients as were hospitalized. The implications of these results in using hospital discharge data for occupational disease surveillance are discussed.