Abstract

MAGDALENA IGLESIAS, M.ª Teresa; DIETL SAGUES, Margarita  and  ASUNSOLO DEL BARCO, Ángel. Aptitude assessment criteria depending on the profession. Med. segur. trab. [online]. 2011, vol.57, n.223, pp.161-173. ISSN 1989-7790.

The assessment of aptitude is part of the daily activity of occupational health doctors. The general complaint is that there is no standardized criteria to do so. What there exists is "exclusion criteria" used in professions of great responsibility, in which an error would cause serious consequences for the worker or others. These criteria are minimum requirements to carry out a job, but they are designed to select workers rather than for labor health purposes. Objectives: Determine the current situation regarding the assessment of aptitude for work and compare aptitude criteria with exclusion criteria for determined jobs. Methodology: The search for references was carried out using keywords and MeSH descriptors. 1593 citations were found. After applying the exclusion criteria and an analysis of relevance, we obtained ²³ full text citations, finding 7 more articles related to the topic in the manual search of the literature. Results: Only two articles deal with the issue of aptitude thoroughly. The tables of medical exclusion deal with every organ or system and with mental aptitude, while the articles reviewed deal with only some of these issues. Conclusions: The tendency of most authors is not to carry out pre-employment medical examinations unless it is mandatory, and maintain regular health examinations. The illnesses most studied so far are hypertension and poor visual acuity. Professionals in which psychophysical capabilities are thoroughly examined are drivers and aircraft pilots.

Keywords : aptitude; occupational health; criteria; ability to work.

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