RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 What are the benefits of medical screening and surveillance?
JF European Respiratory Review
JO EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY REVIEW
FD European Respiratory Society
SP 105
OP 111
DO 10.1183/09059180.00005011
VO 21
IS 124
A1 Dennis Wilken
A1 Xaver Baur
A1 Lioubov Barbinova
A1 Alexandra Preisser
A1 Evert Meijer
A1 Jos Rooyackers
A1 Dick Heederik
YR 2012
UL http://err.ersjournals.com/content/21/124/105.abstract
AB Pre-employment examination is considered to be an important practice and is commonly performed in several countries within the European Union. The benefits of medical surveillance programmes are not generally accepted and their structure is often inconsistent. The aim of this review was to evaluate, on the basis of the available literature, the usefulness of medical screening and surveillance. MEDLINE was searched from its inception up to March 2010. Retrieved literature was evaluated in a peer-review process and relevant data was collected following a systematic extraction schema. Pre-placement screening identifies subjects who are at an increased risk for developing work-related allergic disease, but pre-employment screening is too low to be used as exclusion criteria. Medical surveillance programmes can identify workers who have, or who are developing, work-related asthma. These programmes can also be used to avoid worsening of symptoms by implementing preventive measures. A combination of different tools within the surveillance programme, adjusted for the risk of the individual worker, improves the predictive value. Medical surveillance programmes provide medical as well as socioeconomic benefits. However, pre-employment screening cannot be used to exclude workers. They may act as a starting point for surveillance strategies. A stratified approach can increase the effectiveness and reduce the costs for such programmes.