Biomaterial Database

The family physician looks at occupational health information. 1987

R A Fried

Family Medicine Residency Program, Mercy Medical Center, Denver, Colorado.

Although much is known about occupational and environmental health risks, this information is rarely used by physicians practicing primary-care medicine. As a specialty with roots in the epidemiologic tradition, family medicine should be able to use these data to help care for the individual in the context of the family and community. In this discussion, the historical links between family medicine and epidemiology are reviewed, barriers to the use of epidemiologically derived occupational health information are analyzed, and solutions to the problem of integration are proposed. The relationship between primary care and occupational medicine is a subset of the relationship of clinical practice to epidemiology in general.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009784	Occupational Diseases	Diseases caused by factors involved in one's employment.	Diseases, Occupational,Occupational Illnesses,Disease, Occupational,Illnesse, Occupational,Illnesses, Occupational,Occupational Disease,Occupational Illnesse
D009787	Occupational Medicine	Medical specialty concerned with the promotion and maintenance of the physical and mental health of employees in occupational settings.	Industrial Medicine,Medicine, Industrial,Medicine, Occupational
D011320	Primary Health Care	Care which provides integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. (JAMA 1995;273(3):192)	Primary Care,Primary Healthcare,Care, Primary,Care, Primary Health,Health Care, Primary,Healthcare, Primary
D004781	Environmental Exposure	The exposure to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents in the environment or to environmental factors that may include ionizing radiation, pathogenic organisms, or toxic chemicals.	Exposure, Environmental,Environmental Exposures,Exposures, Environmental
D004782	Environmental Health	The science of controlling or modifying those conditions, influences, or forces surrounding man which relate to promoting, establishing, and maintaining health.	Environmental Health Science,Health, Environmental,Environmental Health Sciences,Environmental Healths,Health Science, Environmental,Health Sciences, Environmental,Healths, Environmental,Science, Environmental Health,Sciences, Environmental Health
D004812	Epidemiologic Methods	Research techniques that focus on study designs and data gathering methods in human and animal populations.	Epidemiologic Method,Epidemiological Methods,Methods, Epidemiologic,Epidemiological Method,Method, Epidemiologic,Method, Epidemiological,Methods, Epidemiological
D005194	Family Practice	A medical specialty concerned with the provision of continuing, comprehensive primary health care for the entire family.	Family Practices,Practice, Family,Practices, Family
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012307	Risk Factors	An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, inborn or inherited characteristic, which, based on epidemiological evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.	Health Correlates,Risk Factor Scores,Risk Scores,Social Risk Factors,Population at Risk,Populations at Risk,Correlates, Health,Factor, Risk,Factor, Social Risk,Factors, Social Risk,Risk Factor,Risk Factor Score,Risk Factor, Social,Risk Factors, Social,Risk Score,Score, Risk,Score, Risk Factor,Social Risk Factor
D014481	United States	A country in NORTH AMERICA between CANADA and MEXICO.