Evidence on the effectiveness of occupational health interventions

Background At present there exists no overview of the range of evidence currently available regarding the effectiveness of occupational health interventions (OHI). Methods Articles published in 2000 and 2001 in 16 general and specialized biomedical journals were searched for evaluations of OHI studies. Results Out of 8,687 articles searched there were 148 OHI studies. In 21% of the studies the study design was a randomized controlled trial, in 28% it was a controlled trial, an interrupted time-series in 7% and a different design in 44%. The occupational health outcome was exposure in 2 7% of the studies, worker behavior in 12%, disease symptoms in 30%, disability or sickness absence in 24%, injuries in 4%, and quality of care in 3%. Conclusions High quality evaluation studies are conducted in all areas of occupational health. However, it is clear that more are needed and the methodology used could be improved.