How Does Work Affect the Health of the U.S. Population? Free Data from the 2010 NHIS-OHS Provides the Answers

From the NIOSH Science Blog, by Sara E. Luckhaupt, MD, MPH; Dara L. Burris, BS

"You may have some hypotheses about how work affects the health of the U.S. population, but collecting data from a nationally representative sample is expensive and time-consuming. What if there was free data available at your fingertips? You’re in luck!
NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC) sponsored an Occupational Health Supplement (OHS) to the 2010 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), and the data is publicly available. See the NIOSH Topic Page for more information. Over 17 thousand current and recent U.S. workers supplied information on their industry, occupation, and workplace health conditions and exposures [such as alternative shifts, job insecurity, hazardous exposures, dermatitis, asthma, etc.]."

NHIS will include another Occupational Health Supplement in 2015. Some proposed ideas for the 2015 survey include ergonomic exposures, work-related low back pain, work-related chronic joint pain, safety culture, and the general impact of work on health. What occupational health related questions would you like to see on the next survey? Please provide feedback in the comment section on the original blog post.

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