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Occupational Medicine 1999;49:443-447
© 1999 Society of Occupational Medicine
research-article |
Investigating clusters in the workplace and beyond
School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, The University of Newcastle NSW, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Clusters of disease are common and occur in the workplace and in the general community. They often arouse considerable concern among the population. Investigations have sometimes lead to exciting new knowledge, but in general the investigation of clusters is difficult and often unrewarding, especially for community clusters. In the workplace, investigations are more likely to find associations and even new causes, but still many clusters remain enigmatic. Despite this, there are many reasons for investigating clusters, including allaying community concern and identifying uncontrolled exposures. A structure for investigating clusters in the workplace is suggested
Keywords Cluster; community; epidemiology; investigations; methods; workplaces
Received 6 January 1999
Accepted 26 April 1999
Correspondence to: A. M. Brown, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Box 13, Hunter Building, The University of Newcastle, NSW, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia. Tel: (+61) 2-49218675; Fax: (+61) 2-49218677; email: mdamb{at}cc.newcastle.edu.ac