ABSTRACT

Diagnosis of occupational diseases (ODs) by physicians is one of the most important steps in protecting the health of employees. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the awareness of residents who were training in the internal medicine disciplines on OD.

This was a cross-sectional study. The survey based on self-declaration was administered to first-year and last-year residents training in the internal medicine disciplines of a medical faculty in Ankara University School of Medicine. There was no valid survey used for the assessment of knowledge and awareness of physicians in diagnosing OD. The survey was created by utilizing the questions used in some similar studies and professional experiences of the researchers.

Of a total of 139 physicians, 57.6% stated that they had pregraduate OD training, and 19.3% stated that they had postgraduate OD training. Among the first-year and last-year research assistants, those who expressed that “they questioned occupations while evaluating their patients” were 34.3% and 36.8% of the participants, respectively. With regard to the primary approaches of research assistants upon confronting with rarely occurring complaints and findings, 8.7% of first-year residents and 24.6% of last-year residents stated that “they questioned the patient about environmental and occupational exposure.”

Our study results indicate that training on ODs during residency and physicians' knowledge and awareness about the methods used in diagnosis, legal aspects, and notification procedures regarding ODs need to be improved and should be developed in their continuing education.