Hospitalizations among employees in the Danish hotel and restaurant industry.
BACKGROUND
The aim of the present study was to provide a broad picture of the morbidity among employees in the Danish hotel and restaurant industry.


METHODS
Cohorts of all 20-59-year-old employees in the Danish hotel and restaurant industry in the years 1981, 1986, 1991 and 1994 were formed to calculate age-standardized hospitalization ratios (SHR) and time trends (1981-1997) for many different diagnoses.


RESULTS
Both for women and men, significantly higher SHRs were found for infectious and parasitic diseases, neoplasms, diseases in the nervous system and sense organs, diseases of the circulatory system, diseases of the respiratory system, diseases of the digestive system and diseases of the musculoskeletal system among employees in hotels and restaurants than in the digestive system and diseases of the musculoskeletal system among employees in hotels and restaurants than in the working population at large. Furthermore, among women a significantly elevated risk was found for injuries in the lower extremities, injuries in the upper extremities and head injuries, and among men a high risk was found for head injuries and a low risk for ruptures in ligaments and muscles. The trend assessments did not detect any significant changes in SHRs over time.


CONCLUSIONS
Employment in the Danish hotel and restaurant industry is associated with an elevated hospitalization risk due to many diseases, which may be related to occupation and lifestyle. In line with the official policy of reducing inequality in health, focus should be placed on the health problems in this group.
Hannerz
Harald
H
Department of Epidemiology and Surveillance, National Institute of Occupational Health, Lersø Parkallé 105, DK-2100 Copenhagen ø, Denmark. hh@ami.dk
Tüchsen
Finn
F
Kristensen
Tage S
TS
D000328:Adult; D003718:Denmark; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012147:Restaurants; D000078329:Workforce