A study looking at the feasibility of using GP reporting systems to measure
the incidence and distribution of ill-health by occupation has been published
by the HSE.
Current information sources, are all hampered by incomplete reporting and
inconsistencies in diagnosis, said the HSE.
The study, carried out by the Institute of Occupational Medicine, looked at
how the four main GP schemes worked and looked at the benefits, costs and
limitations of integrating information from the different schemes.
The study found the four main GP schemes provided a large enough sample to
gauge ill-health prevalence against occupation.
However, the ability to measure rare health effects in the smallest
occupational groups was limited.
As individuals studied were not identified, patient confidentiality was not
compromised.
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Frequencies of Diseases Presenting to General Practitioners According to
Patients’ Occupation, can be ordered from the HSE.
