Do We Question Occupational and Environmental Exposure Adequately in the Outpatient Clinic of Chest Diseases?

Objective: Detailed examination of occupational and environmental exposure of the individuals and their use of cigarette during history-taking stage in Chest Diseases is crucial. This study was planned to investigate the qualities of occupational anamneses carried out in the Outpatient Clinic of Chest Diseases.
Methods: The recordings of 320 consecutive outpatients (158 female and 162 male) admitted to the Outpatient Clinic of Chest Diseases in the Faculty of Medicine were evaluated retrospectively. During this evaluation, whether occupational histories of the patients had been taken in detail or not and the manner in which questioning was performed regarding environmental exposure and smoking were assessed.
Results: The mean age was 51.6±17.3 years in female patients and 55.1±16.1 years in male patients. The most common occupations were housewife (37.5%), farmer (12.8%) and worker (12.2%). Detailed occupational history-taking rate was 21.9% and was found to be higher in males (79%) than in females (31%) (p=0.001). Of the workers, 60% had been questioned regarding their current workplaces, while only 10.6% had been questioned about their previous workplaces. In total, 9 patients (2.8%) had been asked about the environment in which they live. The smoking habits had been questioned in 90.6% of the cases. Of the 290 patients who had been smoking, 183 (63.1%) had been questioned about the amount of cigarettes smoked in a year (packs.year).
Conclusion: It was observed that extensive occupational anamnesis and a history of environmental exposure and smoking were not taken adequately in the Outpatient Clinic of Chest Diseases.