Background
During the past three decades a shift in occupational medicine has taken place. Many of the traditional occupational diseases have become less frequent, and the emphasis in research has shifted to other disorders, many of them quite common, but whose relation to work is less specific. Because these disorders also have non-occupational causes, the occupational component may be difficult to identify. More sensitive epidemiologic approaches are therefore needed. This requires sharpening of the study designs and more accurate methods for measuring exposure.

Objectives
The aim of the course is to enable the participants, in collaboration with a statistician, to design and carry out small epidemiological studies on occupational health risks. The course will concentrate on conventional non-experimental studies, but will also deal with intervention studies.
The main types of epidemiologic study design and their respective strengths and limitations will be presented. Special emphasis will be placed on the role of epidemiology in occupational health.

Target group
The course is aimed at persons with little or no experience in epidemiology. At the end of the course the students are expected to have read and understood the book "Epidemiology for the Uninitiated". The applicants should be research workers, industrial medical officers, occupational hygienists or sociologists, or occupational health administrators. They should have a special interest in occupational health, but no research experience is needed. They should be able to understand lectures in English and be willing to take part in the discussions.

Main topics
• The concepts of causality
• Measures of exposure
• Measures of disease occurrence (incidence, prevalence)
• Risk and measures of association
• Bias in epidemiological studies
• Study design
• Validity
• Introduction to significance tests and estimation with confidence intervals
• Interpretation of results from epidemiologic studies
• Preparing a study protocol
• Ethical issues in epidemiologic research
• Current problems in occupational epidemiology

Course committee
Jakob Bjørner, Kim Lyngby Mikkelsen, National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark, and David Coggon, MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, UK.

Main lecturer
Professor David Coggon, MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, UK.

Additional lecturers
Jakob Bue Bjørner, Kim Lyngby Mikkelsen, Ole Olsen, National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Location and accommodation
The course will take place at the Hotel Gentofte about 10 km north of the Copenhagen city centre, Gentoftegade 29, DK-2820 Gentofte. The organiser will reserve rooms for the participants at the course venue. The full board price comprising accommodation, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and conference coffees will amount to DKK 1 780,- per day. A so called day meeting with conference lunch and conference coffees totals DKK 625,-. The price of an additional night is DKK 995,-. Minor changes in the prices might be possible. More detailed information about the practical arrangements will be sent to the participants after the registration deadline. Please also visit the web pages of the hotel at www.gentoftehotelcopenhagen.dk

Registration deadline
Please, contact the course coordinator.

Registration fee
EUR 650 (accommodation and meals are not included in this price)
When paying the registration fee, please indicate:

 
1. Your name, 2. registration fee, 3. course code 4911. 

The payment should be made four weeks before the start of the course to:
NIVA
Nordea Bank Finland Plc
Meilahti Branch, Tukholmankatu 2
FI-00250 Helsinki , Finland
Account no: 226238-2043
IBAN: FI79 2262 3800 0020 43
Swift code: NDEAFIHH

Please, note that if you cancel your participation later than four weeks before the start of the course, without an acceptable reason (e.g. illness) the organiser is obliged to charge a cancellation fee of EUR 273.

Course leader
Prof. Jakob Bjørner
National Research Centre for the
Working Environment
Lersø Parkallé 105
DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø
DENMARK
Tel. +45 39 16 54 63
Fax +45 39 16 52 01
E-mail:jbj@nrcwe.dk

Course coordinator
Zsuzsanna Renkó-Michelsén
NIVA
Topeliuksenkatu 41 a A
FI-00250 Helsinki, FINLAND
Tel. +358 30 474 2498
Fax +358 30 474 2497
E-mail: zsuzsanna.renko@ttl.fi

Yes I want to register to the course