Cent Eur J Public Health 2014, 22(4):251-256

Twenty Year Development of Occupational Diseases in the Czech Republic: Medical and Geographical Aspects

Jan Jarolímek1,2, Pavel Urban3,4
1 Department of Social Geography and Regional Development, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
2 Public Health Authority of Central Bohemia Region, Prague, Czech Republic
3 Department of Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Health, National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic
4 Department of Occupational Medicine, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

The study analysed occupational diseases in the Czech Republic from the viewpoint of occupational medicine and medical geography. It used a dataset consisting of 32,646 cases of occupational diseases reported during the period of 1994-2013. The descriptive part of the study analysed occupational diseases according to their spatial distribution, occurrence in different branches of economic activities, employees' gender, and according to chapters of the List of occupational diseases. The incidence of occupational diseases showed an overall decreasing trend, which can be related to several factors - transformation of the national economy (shift from heavy industry to manufacturing industry and services), an improvement in access to occupational healthcare services, increased responsibility of employers for safe working conditions, but also a concealment of health problems by employees for fear of losing job. An exception to the decreasing trend is the automotive industry, in which the upward trend in occupational diseases occurrence was noted. The analytical part of the study focused on the relation between unemployment and occupational diseases incidence rates in different regions of the Czech Republic. In most regions, a statistically significant inverse association was shown between the rate of unemployment and occupational disease incidence. The situation is described in more detail for the Moravia-Silesia and Ústí nad Labem Regions and the Capital City of Prague, wherein a statistically significant inverse association was shown between the rate of unemployment and occupational disease incidence. The theory of marginal utility can explain the phenomenon. To certain degree of health problems, employees tend to prefer employment stability, especially if the unemployment is on rise in their region. On the other hand, if losing their job, they often try to claim benefits connected with occupational diseases.

Keywords: occupational diseases, medical geography, geography of health, ecological correlational study, unemployment, risk factors

Received: August 8, 2014; Revised: September 22, 2014; Accepted: September 22, 2014; Published: December 1, 2014  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Jarolímek J, Urban P. Twenty Year Development of Occupational Diseases in the Czech Republic: Medical and Geographical Aspects. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2014;22(4):251-256. PubMed PMID: 25622483.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Meade MS, Emch M. Medical geography. New York: Guilford Press; 2010.
    2. Meade MS, Earickson RJ. Medical geography. NewYork: Guilford Press; 2005.
    3. Gatrell AC. Geographies of health: an introduction. Oxford: WileyBlackwell; 2001.
    4. Anthamatten P, Hazen H. An introduction to the geography of health. New York: Routledge; 2011.
    5. Jarolímek J. Occupational diseases in the automotive industry in terms of Central Bohemia Region [thesis]. Brno: Masaryk University in Brno, Faculty of Science, Department of Geography. (In Czech.)
    6. Jarolímek J. Occupational diseases in the automotive industry in the Central Bohemia Region. Prakt Lek. 2013;93(3):100-4. (In Czech.)
    7. National Institute f Public Health. National Registry of Occupational Diseases [Internet]. Prague: National Institute of Public Health; 2014 [updated 2014 Apr 20; cited 2014 Jul 17]. Available from: http://www.szu.cz/publikace/data/nemoci-z-povolani. (In Czech.)
    8. Czech Statistical Office. Classification of economic activities (CZNACE) [Internet]. Prague: Czech Statistical Office [updated 2009; cited 2014 Jan 24]. Available from: http://apl.czso.cz/iSMS/en/klasstru.jsp?kodcis=80004. (In Czech.)
    9. Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic. Miners suffer from occupational diseases most [Internet]. Prague: Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic; 2013 [updated 2013; cited 2014 May 15]. Available from: http://www.mzcr.cz/dokumenty/nemocemi-z-povolani-trpi-nejvicehornici-_8113_2778_1.html. (In Czech.)
    10. Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic. Report on activities of public health authorities in the field of occupational health [Internet]. Prague: Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic [updated 2012; cited 2014 Jul 28]. Available from: http://www.mzcr.cz/Verejne/obsah/zprava-ocinnosti-oovz_2634_5.html. (In Czech.)
    11. Registry of job categorisation [Internet]. Prague: KSRZIS [updated 2014 Apr 24; cited 2014 Jan 24]. Available from: http://www.ksrzis.cz/dokumenty/registr-kategorizace-praci-kapr_41_114_1.html. (In Czech.)
    12. Fotheringham AS. Analyzing numerical data. In: Flowerdew R, Martin D, editors. Methods in human geography: a guide for students doing a research project. New York: Prentice Hall; 1997. p. 155-71.
    13. Fotheringham AS, Brunsdon C, Charlton M. Quantitative geography perspectives on spatial data analysis. London: SAGE Publications; 2000.
    14. Spurná P. Recent trends in quantitative analysis of geographic data focused on use of method of geographically weighted regression [thesis]. Prague: Charles University in Prague, Department of Social Geography and Regional Development,; 2006. (In Czech.)
    15. Hendl J. Review of statistical methods for data processing - analysis and metaanalysis of data. Prague: Portál; 2004. (In Czech.)
    16. Holt-Jensen A. Geography - history and concepts. London: SAGE Publications; 1999.
    17. EuropeanAgency for Safety and Health at Work. European Occupational Diseases Statistics - EODS [Internet]. European Agency for Safety and Health at Work; 2014 [updated 2014Apr 24; cited 2014 Jan 24].Available from: http://hw2012.healthy-workplaces.eu/data/links/osh_link.2005-0203.2544762875.

    Return to the content