Problems of evidence in occupational medicine

Abstract

We devoted this article to the problem of causation and evaluation of causality associations in the occupational epidemiology, exposure assessment, occupational health, and industrial medicine using methodological approaches of clinical epidemiology, for which the term "evidence-based medicine" is wider used in the Russian Federation. The researchers paid some attention to the historical aspects of causality assessment in occupational medicine in the Russian Federation. The authors discuss the issues of evidence in occupational medicine, planning, and implementation of epidemiological studies in occupational therapy using specialized questionnaires and clinical, functional, molecular, and genetic techniques. We analyzed the concept of the "risk factor" of the disease along with the organizational and methodological bases of assessment and management of occupational risks in industrial medicine. The paper also offers applied examples of the relative risk assessment, highlighting the advantages and perils of selected methods in a comparative analysis. Scientists have affected the contribution of systematic reviews aiming to mine evidence-based rationale in occupational epidemiology. The authors speculate and conclude on the importance of risk assessment in the overall morbidity reduction in occupational medicine through efficient prevention programs, along with the underpinnings to include work-related conditions in the national loss of occupational diseases.