No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2007.

[Truncated abstract] Veterinarians have considerable potential for exposure to several known reproductive hazards such as radiation, anaesthetic gases, pesticides, long working hours and occupational stress. Reproductive effects are a concern to female veterinarians, especially now that about 65% of graduates from Australian veterinary science schools are female. In the last two decades, there have been reports on the possible associations between occupational exposures and adverse reproductive outcomes in female veterinarians, but most of them have been equivocal and the whole area remains controversial. More evidence is needed before firm conclusions can be drawn. The Health Risks of Australian Veterinarians project (HRAV) was conducted as a questionnaire-based survey of all graduates from Australian veterinary schools during the 40-year period 1960-2000. Of 5,748 eligible veterinarians who were sent the questionnaires (73% of the whole cohort), 2,800 replied including 1,197 females (42.8%). Among women veterinarians eligible to participate, 59% participated . . . Identification of these associations may provide the opportunity for preventing harmful exposures and thus reduce the risk of any adverse reproductive outcomes not only for veterinarians, but also for other groups exposed to these risks such as veterinary nurses, animal laboratory technicians, anaesthetists, dentists, dental assistants, and other similar professional groups. The author of this thesis, having completely addressed the research objectives of her doctoral candidacy, has set out and acted on a future research agenda designed to explore the association between perceived occupational stress and pregnancy outcomes and infertility in Australian female veterinarians.