Hospitalizations among female home-helpers in Denmark, 1981-1997.

BACKGROUND

Occupational health problems among home-helpers have been reported in a series of studies, and the need for intervention has been pointed out. To facilitate decisions regarding interventions and to establish baseline values for future evaluation of preventive efforts, the present study aimed to elucidate the disease pattern among female home-helpers in Denmark.

METHODS

Cohorts of all 20-59-year-old Danish female home-helpers in the years 1981, 1986, 1991, and 1994 were formed, to calculate age standardized hospitalization ratios (SHR) and time trends (1981-1997) for a large variety of diagnostic aggregations.

RESULTS

Significantly high SHRs were found for injuries, infectious and parasitic diseases, and for diseases of the nervous system, circulatory system, the respiratory organs, digestive system, and the musculoskeletal system. When adjusting for social group the SHRs for varicose veins, ischemic heart diseases (IHD), and musculoskeletal disorders were still significantly high while the SHR for malignant neoplasm of respiratory organs became significantly low. The time trends revealed increased relative risks for IHD and asthma, and a decreasing relative risk for duodenal ulcer.

CONCLUSIONS

Employment in the Danish home-help sector is associated with an elevated hospitalization risk due to many work-related diseases.