[Cancer diagnosis in hospital workers].
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to identify cases of cancer diagnosis in hospital workers and to establish if an excess of cases exist.


METHODS
For cases occurring during 1990-2005 the following data about workers were checked: birth date, sex, location of the neoplasm, date of diagnosis of the neoplasm, working category, hospital service/unit and work duration at the hospital. The standard incidence ratio (SIR) was calculated for each type of cancer.


RESULTS
Fifty one neoplasms were registered (21 male and 30 women) Most frequent types of cancer were breast (19 cases), leukemia-lymphoma (7 cases), lung (4 cases) and prostate (4 cases). At the time of diagnosis the average age was 47,3 years (DE 9,2). 22 cases were detected in doctors, 18 in nurses and assistant nurses and 4 in assistants. An excess of cases was not found. Comparing data with cancer cases in the whole population, the prevalence of colon cancer was lower than the average (SIR: 0,25; CI 95%: 0,03-0,89) as well as the prevalence of gastric cancer (SIR: 0,19; CI 95%: 0,02-0,69).


CONCLUSIONS
An excess of cancer risk was not found in the studied group. Difficulties in obtaining information about people at risk and cancer incidence reveal the need to improve the sources of information for this kind of studies in Spain.
Esteve
María
M
Unidad de Medicina Preventiva, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, España. mariaesteve.germanstrias@gencat.cat
Casas
Irma
I
Clèries
Ramón
R
Ribes
Josepa
J
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010564:Personnel, Hospital