[Improving occupational health evaluation research]

A review of the existing occupational health literature reveals that several authors have proposed recommendations to increase the effectiveness of interventions that aim to prevent occupational disabilities. However, these recommendations are rarely evidence-based given that research carried out on such interventions is essentially epidemiological and that it generally produces too fragmented results. The contributing factors to explain this phenomenon are identified. The authors support the opinion that the community of occupational health academics should create more opportunities for researchers well-versed in evaluative research based on scientific methods complementary to epidemiology.