Abstract

VAZQUEZ-GARCIA, Juan Carlos; TORNERO-APPLEBAUM, Francisco; TORAL-VILLANUEVA, Rodrigo  and  PEREZ-PADILLA, Rogelio. Proposal of a procedure for assessment of impairment in occupational lung disease. Neumol. cir. torax [online]. 2017, vol.76, n.3, pp.271-284. ISSN 0028-3746.

Social protection for occupational disease is established by the Federal Labor Law in Mexico. Occupational lung diseases are the greatest number of diseases by specialty, including 47 diseases legally protected. However, this law has not been reviewed since the year 1970. Recently, the Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare of Mexico assembled working groups in order to update the occupational disease protected by law. An additional aim was to provide the methodology and the recommended procedures for evaluating physical impairment in workers. We describe the pulmonary function tests included in the new proposal for assessing respiratory impairment. Their physiological, technical and clinical bases are reviewed, including the interpretation process. Specific recommendations for the practical implementation of this new methodology in the medium term in Mexico are analyzed by the authors.

Keywords : Occupational lung diseases; respiratory impairment; pulmonary function testing; spirometry.

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