TY - JOUR
T1 - Diagnosing and reporting of occupational diseases: a quality improvement study
AU - Spreeuwers, D.
AU - de Boer, A. G. E. M.
AU - Verbeek, J. H. A. M.
AU - van Beurden, M. M.
AU - van Dijk, F. J. H.
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - AIM: To assess the need for quality improvement of diagnosing and reporting of noise-induced occupational hearing loss and occupational adjustment disorder. METHODS: Performance indicators and criteria for the quality of diagnosing and reporting were developed. Self-assessment questionnaires were sent to all occupational physicians recorded on the Netherlands Centre for Occupational Diseases database. The performance of responding occupational physicians was then assessed by separate scores per performance indicator and by a total quality score. RESULTS: Twenty-three questionnaires on noise-induced occupational hearing loss and 125 questionnaires on occupational adjustment disorder were available for analysis. The mean quality score for diagnosing and reporting was 6.0 (SD: 1.4) for noise-induced occupational hearing loss and 7.9 (SD: 1.5) for occupational adjustment disorder on a scale of 0-10. For noise-induced occupational hearing loss, there was a need for quality improvement of the aspects of medical history, audiometric measurement, clinical diagnosis of the disease and reporting. For occupational adjustment disorder, the assessment of other non-occupational causes needed improvement. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of diagnosing and reporting could be improved for noise-induced occupational hearing loss and occupational adjustment disorders. Information, education and practical tools are proposed for quality improvements
AB - AIM: To assess the need for quality improvement of diagnosing and reporting of noise-induced occupational hearing loss and occupational adjustment disorder. METHODS: Performance indicators and criteria for the quality of diagnosing and reporting were developed. Self-assessment questionnaires were sent to all occupational physicians recorded on the Netherlands Centre for Occupational Diseases database. The performance of responding occupational physicians was then assessed by separate scores per performance indicator and by a total quality score. RESULTS: Twenty-three questionnaires on noise-induced occupational hearing loss and 125 questionnaires on occupational adjustment disorder were available for analysis. The mean quality score for diagnosing and reporting was 6.0 (SD: 1.4) for noise-induced occupational hearing loss and 7.9 (SD: 1.5) for occupational adjustment disorder on a scale of 0-10. For noise-induced occupational hearing loss, there was a need for quality improvement of the aspects of medical history, audiometric measurement, clinical diagnosis of the disease and reporting. For occupational adjustment disorder, the assessment of other non-occupational causes needed improvement. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of diagnosing and reporting could be improved for noise-induced occupational hearing loss and occupational adjustment disorders. Information, education and practical tools are proposed for quality improvements
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqm146
DO - https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqm146
M3 - Article
C2 - 18211909
SN - 0962-7480
VL - 58
SP - 115
EP - 121
JO - Occupational medicine (Oxford, England)
JF - Occupational medicine (Oxford, England)
IS - 2
ER -