Occupational Therapy and workers' health: an overview of the bibliographic production

Introduction: Occupational therapy has presented an increasing growth in the health and occupational field, with interventions in rehabilitation, prevention, promotion and surveillance in occupational health. Objective: The study aimed to analyze occupational therapy scientific publications in the period from 2000 to 2013, based on the level of evidence. Method: A bibliographical research on the production of papers from the two main journals in the field of occupational therapy in Brazil was developed: Revista de Terapia Ocupacional from USP and Cadernos de Terapia Ocupacional from UFSCar, using as key words, in Portuguese, corresponding to "workers'health", "ergonomics", "work accidents", "worker", "RSI (Repetitive Strain Injuries)", "professional rehabilitation", and "people with disabilities". Results: The data were grouped and organized as: (a) production by types of work analyzed according to the level of evidence; (b) production by years of publications; and (c) publication in accordance with the object of study. The sample consisted of 30 papers, with 90% (n=27) with level of evidence six, 34% (n=10) of publications between the years 2011 to 2012 and regarding the first author affiliation, 90% (n=27) was affiliated to the educational institution. On the object of study 27% was RSI, 23% (n=7) was ergonomics, 17% (n=50) was mental health and work and 13% (n=40) people with disabilities. Conclusion: It was concluded that publications included in this research point to a predominance of publishing approach. The failure to find other studies showed the need for further research based on different methodological approaches.