Occupational history-taking in a family practice academic setting

Objective This study uses a pre- and post-training program evaluation of chiropractic interns to (1) describe changes in their frequency of occupational history taking before and after a 1-hour training and (2) to document the attitudes and beliefs regarding occupational health and history taking. Methods All chiropractic interns at 1 clinic location completed questionnaires assessing their attitudes and perceptions regarding documenting the occupational history of their patients each trimester they were enrolled in the study. Each intern enrolled in the study for 2 or more trimesters participated in a 1-hour-long training session on taking an occupational history. The supervising clinician independently evaluated charting behaviors of interns for the duration of the study. Results The supervising clinician assessed 20 interns' level of documenting occupational history for 202 new patient or reexamination visits. A majority of interns (85% at baseline) were interested in occupational health, and 80% believed that occupational history taking was “very important.” Intern charting behaviors increased after training related to documentation of past occupation (62.9% from 32.4%) and relating the chief complaint to work (59.7% from 30.0%). Detailed occupational history taking remained low throughout the study but demonstrated a doubling in documentation after training (16.1% from 8.6%). Conclusion Chiropractic interns and clinicians should be adequately trained in occupational health history documentation practices as they are likely to care for work-related injuries. Short training modules appear to be effective in demonstrating small changes in documentation related to occupational history taking.

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Effect of A Brief Education On The Occupational History Taking In Hypertension Patients

Acta Medica ◽

10.32552/2018.actamedica.324 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 49 (4) ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

Seval Müzeyyen Ecin ◽

Adem Koyuncu ◽

Abdulsamet Sandal ◽

Sultan Pınar Çetintepe ◽

Nursel Çalık Başaran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Internal Medicine ◽

General Internal Medicine ◽

Outpatient Clinic ◽

Occupational Diseases ◽

History Taking ◽

University Hospitals ◽

Occupational History ◽

General Internal ◽

Number Of Patients ◽

Significant Difference

Objective: This study is designed to measure the effect of 10-minutes training about occupational diseases, history taking and relation of occupation and hypertension on occupational history taking rates of physicians. Materials and Methods: This research is conducted between 01 April 2018 to 31 May 2018 at Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine Outpatient Clinic. The training including the importance and methods of taking occupational history, and the relation between occupation and diseases is given to the new assistant doctor group as an extra 10 minutes’ education session. At the end of May, researchers screened electronic medical files of patients who diagnosed with hypertension (ICD10 code I10) of outpatients in General Internal Medicine Division in April and May 2018. Results: We reviewed the data of 3619 adult patients administered to General Internal Medicine Outpatient Clinic of Hacettepe University Hospitals in between 01 April to 31 May 2018. A total of 395 (10.9%) patients had hypertension diagnosis code. The total number of patients whose occupational history taken were 151 (38.2%). There were statistically significant difference between physician groups not trained in April and trained 10 minutes in May, 62 (32%), and 89 (44.3%), respectively (p:0.012). Among the hypertensive patients whose occupational history were recorded, 36 (23.8%) had an occupation. Conclusion: This result emphasizes the importance of education in raising awareness of taking an occupational history. As occupational diseases are 100% preventable diseases, taking occupational history will enhance the diagnosis and effective treatment of the occupational or work-related diseases. Beginning from the medical faculty lectures, seminars and post-graduate education have to be added and increased regarding this important issue. Keywords: Occupational history, occupational disease, hypertension.

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