health assessment of self-employed workers

Introduction
Self-employed workers have no access to occupational health system. Moreover, they don't benefit from welfare, and few of them never consult a general practitioner.

Methods
A population of almost three hundreds self-employed hairdressers had an occupational risk assessment checkup including a medical questionnaire and investigations in relationship with their job exposure (spirometry, research of abnormal bladder cells justified by their aromatic amines exposures).Results obtained were compared with those of a population of wage earners hairdressers. Finally, they received information about specific occupational risks including carcinogenic factors

Results
Ninety percent of self-employed workers were women with mean age of 43 years old. They worked as hairdressers for 25 years .one third were smokers .Main occupational diseases were cumulative trauma disorders, lung diseases(without medical information and treatment) and contact dermatitis(without, patch test confirming the a etiologies).They had also sleep disorders(37%).Eleven percent had significant high stress level.

Discussion
Self-employed workers had frequent health impairments. Occupational diseases have incomplete diagnosis, and often no medical take care, for three reasons. The first explanation is lake of time devote to health prevention The second reason is a deficit of information about occupational risks, and finally no occupational health follow up ,seems to worsen handicap introduced by occupational exposure.