Occupational Epidemiology

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The development of occupational epidemiology has been steadily accelerating, regardingmethodology and the number of studies being conducted. This chapter reviews the general application of occupational epidemiology and illustrates some of the various studies reported in the literature to assist in the practical application of the epidemiologic approach. The epidemiologist uses analytic tools such as the case-control method to examine the complexity of variables to understand workplace exposures to disease. The analytic methods used to examine epidemiologic data have become more sophisticated over the past several decades as the focus of occupational epidemiology has shifted to the detection of early health effects associated with low-level exposures. In the future, epidemiologists need to collaborate more effectively with toxicologists, environmental scientists and biostatisticians to improve the collection of exposure data and develop more precise methods for estimating exposure that account for metabolism and excretion of toxic materials. Continuous improvement of epidemiologic analytic methods and prevention of occupational disease and surveillance are needed.