Document Detail


Disability from occupational diseases in Greece.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  19666962     Owner:  NLM     Status:  In-Process    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
BACKGROUND: Occupational diseases (ODs) are often under-reported. OD Medical Committees of the Greek Social Security Institute (Idryma Kinonikon Asfaliseon-IKA) are believed to be the only reliable source of data on ODs in Greece.
AIMS: To analyse the results of OD Medical Committees of IKA on the claims for OD Disablement Benefit (ODDB) during a 5 year period.
METHODS: Two hundred and ninety-nine claims for ODDB were submitted to IKA from 2003 to 2007. These claims were examined on a monthly basis.
RESULTS: One hundred and seventy-one cases of ODs (153 men and 18 women, mean age = 57 +/- 8 years) were recorded (recognition rate = 61%); 125 of these qualified for ODDB (pension rate = 42%). The main diagnosis was allergic contact dermatitis (40% of total cases of ODs), followed by lead toxicity (12%) and asthma (11%). Of the six main diagnoses, the most serious was lead toxicity (mean disability percentage = 59 +/- 19%, n = 21).
CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals flaws in the existing system of recognition of ODs in Greece, illustrated mainly by the small number of claims for ODDB. Possible explanations are delays in establishing a new widened list of ODs, lack of a unified recording and notification system, lack of motivation on behalf of the patients and the small number of occupational physicians.
Authors:
Georgios N Kourouklis
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article     Date:  2009-08-10
Journal Detail:
Title:  Occupational medicine (Oxford, England)     Volume:  59     ISSN:  1471-8405     ISO Abbreviation:  Occup Med (Lond)     Publication Date:  2009 Oct 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2009-09-28     Completed Date:  -     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9205857     Medline TA:  Occup Med (Lond)     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  515-7     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Diagnostic Centre of Occupational Medicine, Social Security Institute (IKA), Athens, Greece. giorgoskour@in.gr
Export Citation:
APA/MLA Format     Download EndNote     Download BibTex
MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Comments/Corrections
Comment In:
Occup Med (Lond). 2010 Jun;60(4):315-6   [PMID:  20511272 ]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


Previous Document:  Occupational outcomes in soldiers hospitalized with mental health problems.
Next Document:  Hearing protection device usage at a South African gold mine.