Occupational health monitoring and surveillance

The design of monitoring and surveillance programs is advancing rapidly. Surveillance is a strategy to determine a group experience with a particular disease outcome, while monitoring focuses on the overall health experience of the group. Screening tests for early detection of abnormalities related to exposure are selected on the basis of sensitivity, specificity and the prevalence of the abnormality. Family physicians are increasingly involved in these programs, and must understand their rationale and legal framework.