This book is an introductory text for those people who need to know more about the scientific principles behind the study of the causes of disease occurrence. As most people spend a large part of their lives at work, and as some people may be at risk of being exposed to harmful substances at high levels, workers protection should have a high priority. Studies in the workplace can help to identify causes of occupational diseases, and the outcome of such investigations should be applied when the effects of protective action are evaluated. In searching for occupational causes of diseases, epidemiological principles should be used, even at the factory level. Applying strict logical principles to the collection of data concerning workers' experience with ill-health ensures that a useful insight is gained into the causes of disease, and that data are obtained in a format suitable for subsequent larger scale studies.

PART I: Concepts of Epidemiology

1. Problems and Possible Solutions

2. Detectives on the Job

3. Is There a Problem?

4. Observed and Expected

5. Who, Where, and When

6. Do the Diseased Have Anything in Common?

7. What Distinguishes the Diseased from the Non-Diseased

8. The Case-Control Study

9. The Study Plan

10. Study Base

11. Information

12. The Follow-Up Study

13. The Ongoing Follow-Up Study

14. Selecting Exposed and Non-Exposed

15. Healthy Worker Selection

16. Follow-Up Time

17. The Historical Follow-Up Study

18. Important Considerations

19. Problems

20. Selection

21. Information and Misclassification

22. Confounding

23. The Cross-Sectional Study

24. Mortality Studies

25. The Proportional Mortality Study

26. Monitoring and Record Keeping

PART II: Epidemiology in Practice

27. An Occupational Flu-Epidemic

28. Case Study of Infertility in Males

29. A Small Cluster of Spontaneous Abortions

30. Byssinosis and Chronic Bronchitis in - Flax-Mill

31. Case Study in a Power Plant

32. Setting and Problems

33. New Studies

34. Conclusion

35. Lung Cancer Mortality Among Workers Exposed to Manufacture of Chromate Pigments

PART III: Glossary