[Evaluation of a surveillance program in occupational health in a catchment area of the Valencia community].
BACKGROUND
The poor development of systems of occupational surveillance in Spain is an important obstacle for implementing effective occupational health programmes. The objective of this study is to evaluate the utility and feasibility of an occupational health surveillance system in a Health Area, using the available public sanitary resources, between 1991 and 1993.


METHODS
The surveillance system is based on the identification of Sentinel Health Events (Rutstein and cols.) from registers or by notification, obtaining additional information through the procedure of interview. Distribution of cases by condition, level of response to the interviews, and distribution of cases according to its source of information are analysed. The evaluation is made on the following criteria: required elements, utility, representativeness, choice between sensibility and specificity, and limitations.


RESULTS
314 sentinel health events were identified, from which, in 33 cases, occupational exposure to causal agents was confirmed. The occupational diseases notified from compensation systems were 31. 3 cases of interstitial pneumonia were identified, that allowed the detection of an outbreak in textile workers.


CONCLUSIONS
The implementation of systems of occupational surveillance, in the actual spanish sanitary context, should take into account the following aspects: organizational flexibility, efficiency, and orientation towards intervention.
Villanueva Ballester
V
V
Dirección General de Salud Pública, Consejería de Sanidad y Consumo, Generalidad Valenciana.
Castelló Mateu
C
C
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016272:Occupational Health; D015397:Program Evaluation; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D013030:Spain