[Surveillance of industrial physicians' knowledge and concern about sleep apnea syndrome].
Sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) is a risk factor in lifestyle-related disease known to be closely associated with traffic and occupational accidents. Because of its high morbidity in middle-aged men, early diagnosis and management by industrial physicians are important. We clarified the degree of knowledge and concern about SAS among industrial physicians. We e-mailed questionnaires to 199 industrial physicians belonging to the Industrial Medical Promotion Society, and Most answered that industrial received responses from 51 (40 contracted and 11 part-time industrial physicians). physicians should participate in the management of SAS to prevent doze accidents, to control lifestyle-related diseases, to judge vocational fitness, and to lower economical expense. Fewer than 30% of physicians had conducted educational activities, and even fewer had practiced interviews and screening for SAS. Financial difficulty, lack of specialized hospitals for SAS, lack of labor, and a lack of concern among executives are major obstacles to SAS screening for employees. We concluded that, despite the concern industrial physicians, SAS is practically disregarded in their work. Cost-and time-effective screening and guidelines for employees with SAS should be established to facilitate the management of SAS by industrial physicians.
Kitamura
Takuro
T
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Medicine, Kitakyushu.
Yoshida
Masafumi
M
Morimoto
Yasuo
Y
Narui
Koji
K
Tsuda
Toru
T
Kikuchi
Hiroshi
H
Suzuki
Hideaki
H
D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000517:prevention & control; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D009017:Morbidity; D009787:Occupational Medicine; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires