Diagnosis of Occupational Diseases in the Northern Region of Portugal: 2019–2021

An occupational disease is considered to be a disease caused by exposure at work to a risk factor of a physical, organisational, chemical or biological nature or a combination of these factors. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are the most common health problem in the European Union, affecting all sectors of activity and occupations. A total of 9915 occupational diseases recognised by Social Security for workers in the Northern region of mainland Portugal between 2019 and 2021 were analysed. For data processing, SPSS software was used to calculate occupational disease incidence and prevalence rates, group occupational diseases by major disease groups, and categorise occupational diseases by activity sectors in the Northern Region. The study found that the number and incidence of occupational diseases increase with age and are higher in women. The highest incidence rate per 100000 workers of occupational diseases was recorded in industrialised municipalities in the district of Aveiro, such as Castelo de Paiva, Vale de Cambra and Oliveira de Azeméis. It is also verified that in the Northern Region of Portugal, 69% of certified occupational diseases between 2019−2021 correspond to musculoskeletal diseases, such as Epicondylitis, Periarthritis and Tenosynovitis. The activity sector that most contributed to these diseases was the clothing industry (24%), followed by the extractive industry (quarries) and the footwear industry, with 6%, respectively.