Rol de la Epidemiología en la Salud Ocupacional

Abstract

In this work, the concepts of occupational hazards are reviewed together with their relation to the probabilistic concept of risk used in epidemiological methodology. In particular, the concepts of relative risk and Attributable risk for the identification of factors which are determinant in professional accidents and diseases are analyzed. A wide range of uses of the epidemiological method in occupational health is presented, varying from descriptive aspects to the identification of risk factors, factors that promote health in workers, the study and determination of exposure limits, the determination of normal values, the evaluation of protection measures and the expansion of the clinical spectrum of occupational disease, both in depth and amplitude. Finally, the strategy and epidemiological framework most appropriate for the uses already mentioned are briefly reviewed, pointing out the importance of training the different professionals in occupational health in a basic knowledge of the epidemiological method.