S Jill Stocks1, Roseanne McNamee2, Henk F van der Molen3, Christophe Paris4, Pavel Urban5, Giuseppe Campo6, Riitta Sauni7, Begoña Martínez Jarreta8, Madeleine Valenty9, Lode Godderis10, David Miedinger11, Pascal Jacquetin12, Hans M Gravseth13, Vincent Bonneterre14, Maylis Telle-Lamberton15, Lynda Bensefa-Colas16, Serge Faye17, Godewina Mylle18, Axel Wannag19, Yogindra Samant19, Teake Pal3, Stefan Scholz-Odermatt20, Adriano Papale6, Martijn Schouteden18, Claudio Colosio21, Stefano Mattioli22, Raymond Agius23. 1. Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK NIHR Greater Manchester Primary Care Patient Safety Translational Research Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. 2. Centre for Biostatistics, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. 3. Coronel Institute of Occupational Health, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 4. Inserm U954, Vandoeuvre Les Nancy, France Occupational Diseases Department, University Hospital, Nancy, France. 5. Centre for Occupational Health, National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic Department of Occupational Medicine, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. 6. Istituto Nazionale Assicurazione contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro (INAIL) Research, Rome, Italy. 7. Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Tampere, Finland. 8. School of Occupational Medicine, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain. 9. Département Santé Travail, Institut de veille sanitaire, Saint Maurice, France. 10. Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium IDEWE, Heverlee, Belgium. 11. Department of Occupational Medicine & Department of Actuarial Science, Suva (Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund), Lucerne, Switzerland Medical Faculty, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. 12. Caisse nationale de l'assurance maladie des travailleurs salariés, Paris, France. 13. National Institute of Occupational Health, Oslo, Norway. 14. Département de Médecine et Santé au travail, Pôle Santé publique, CHU Grenoble, Grenoble, France. 15. Observatoire régional de santé Île-de-France, ORS Île-de-France, Paris, France. 16. Occupational Diseases Department, University Hospital of Centre of Paris COCHIN, AP-HP, Paris, France Paris Descartes University, Sorbonne Paris Cité, EA 4064, Laboratoire Santé Publique et Environnement, Paris, France. 17. Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire (ANSES), Maisons-Alfort, France. 18. IDEWE, Heverlee, Belgium. 19. Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority, Trondheim, Norway. 20. Department of Occupational Medicine & Department of Actuarial Science, Suva (Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund), Lucerne, Switzerland Swiss Central Office for Statistics in Accident Insurance-SSUV, Lucerne, Switzerland. 21. Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, University of Milano, Milano, Italy. 22. Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. 23. Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Abstract
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. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.
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. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.
Authors: Melanie Carder; Louise Hussey; Annemarie Money; Matthew Gittins; Roseanne McNamee; Susan Jill Stocks; Dil Sen; Raymond M Agius Journal: Saf Health Work Date: 2017-01-13