Muir D C
Occupational Health Program, McMaster University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Occup Environ Med. 1995 May;52(5):289-93. doi: 10.1136/oem.52.5.289.
The concept of causality is reviewed with special emphasis on occupational diseases. Separate approaches from the philosophical, scientific, and legal points of view are identified. There is controversy over the methodology of logical causality; inductive and deductive methods are described and reference is made to the verification or refutation approach. Application of the methods to epidemiology are reviewed. It is likely that many diseases have multiple causes and that only a component of occupational causality can be identified in each patient. Methods of assigning such a component are discussed. The difficulties of developing an equitable compensation policy in such circumstances are reviewed. The possible benefits of proportional compensation are noted.
本文回顾了因果关系的概念，特别强调了职业病。确定了从哲学、科学和法律角度的不同方法。逻辑因果关系的方法论存在争议；描述了归纳和演绎方法，并提及了验证或反驳方法。综述了这些方法在流行病学中的应用。许多疾病可能有多种病因，而且在每个患者中可能只能确定职业因果关系的一个组成部分。讨论了确定这一组成部分的方法。综述了在这种情况下制定公平补偿政策的困难。指出了按比例补偿的可能好处。
