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Use of a National Hospitalization Register to identify industrial sectors carrying high risk of severe injuries: A three‐year cohort study of more than 900,000 Danish men
Author(s) -
Baarts Charlotte,
Mikkelsen Kim L.,
Hannerz Harald,
Tüchsen Finn
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0274(200012)38:6<619::aid-ajim2>3.0.co;2-z
Subject(s) - medicine , occupational safety and health , carpentry , danish , injury prevention , cohort , poison control , occupational injury , human factors and ergonomics , cohort study , back injury , trunk , physical therapy , occupational medicine , suicide prevention , environmental health , ecology , linguistics , philosophy , civil engineering , pathology , engineering , biology
Background Data indicates that Denmark has relatively high risks of occupational injuries. We evaluated all injuries resulting in hospitalization by occupation. Methods All gainfully employed men younger than 60 in 1990 were divided into 47 industrial groups and followed using the National Inpatient Registry, for hospitalized injuries 1991–1993. Following ICD‐8, injuries were grouped into six categories: head, upper extremities, back, trunk, lower extremities and ruptures, sprains and strains. Standardized industrial hospitalization ratios (SHRs) were calculated and Pearson's independence test was performed for each category. Results Industrial differences were ascertained for each injury category. The highest associated injury category was upper extremity injuries ranging from SHR = 43 (fire services and salvage corps) to SHR = 209 (slaughterhouse industry). Carpentry, joinery, bricklaying and construction work had significantly high SHRs for all injury categories, whereas administrative work was significantly low throughout. Conclusions Occupational surveillance systems based on hospitalized injuries can be used to identify high‐risk industries, and thereby suggest where to direct prevention efforts. Am. J. Ind. Med. 38:619–627, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.