Work-related interventions during office visits to occupational health physicians.
BACKGROUND
Systematically applied work-related interventions during visits to occupational health (OH) physicians support the preventive and health promotive goals of OH. The proportion of the visits including a work-related intervention was analyzed according to patient, health problem, and physician determinants in a sample of visits to OH physicians in Finland.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study was carried out among 55 Occupational Health Services (OHS) units. Office encounters with 4,404 male and 5,373 female employed patients ages 18-64 years, recorded by 114 OHS physicians, were analyzed.


RESULTS
Altogether 856 (8.8%) encounters included a work-related intervention. The work-related interventions were distributed across all the main disease categories, the majority of which were musculoskeletal diseases. Of the patient determinants, occupational group (the residual group of non-white-collar or non-blue-collar workers) associated positively with a work-related intervention, while age or gender did not. The physician's female gender and experience associated positively with work-related interventions. Work-related interventions took place more often in integrated and joint model OHS than in municipal health care centers and private medical centers.


CONCLUSIONS
Work-related interventions are used by OH physicians for diverse health problems. More research is needed to better understand the reasons for the observed differences in work-related interventions. Also, research is needed to evaluate the efficiency of such interventions.
Räsänen
K
K
Research and Development Centre for Occupational Health Services, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Kuopio, Finland. kimmo.rasanen@occuphealth.fi
Notkola
V
V
Husman
K
K
D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003376:Counseling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009787:Occupational Medicine / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009790:Occupations; D016017:Odds Ratio; D009819:Office Visits / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018579:Patient Selection; D010819:Physician's Role; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017132:Workplace