Medical and legal diagnoses comparison of the occupational diseases: A nationwide study in Turkey

Abstract

ObjectivesThe underreporting of occupational diseases in many countries significantly hampers the development of intervention programs, posing a significant public health problem. Our study aimed to contribute to the occupational diseases surveillance by examining the data of hospitals authorized to issue reports throughout Turkey.Material and MethodsThis cross‐sectional study was conducted using medical diagnoses of occupational diseases reported to the General Directorate of Public Health from 81 provinces in Turkey between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2022. The study evaluated hospitals that made medical diagnoses of occupational diseases and compared age groups, genders, occupational disease diagnosis groups and provinces of work regarding legal and medical diagnoses.ResultsThe top three disease groups in terms of medical diagnosis are musculoskeletal disorders with 38.8%, respiratory diseases with 14.4% and hearing defects with 10.9%. Regarding legal diagnoses, respiratory system diseases ranked first with 26.4%, followed by musculoskeletal disorders with 8.2% and hearing defects with 5.5%. While the provinces where most cases of medical occupational diseases are diagnosed share similarities, the majority of affected individuals in Karabük and Batman have not received a legal recognition of the occupational disease. Two‐thirds of Turkey's medical occupational disease diagnoses were made in two hospitals.ConclusionThis study is reflecting national data in Turkey and is the country's first nationwide study. The number of occupational diseases in Turkey is lower than expected. It would be more accurate to express the data in a way that includes medical diagnoses instead of using the number of compensated files corresponding to legal diagnoses.