Abstract
A wide range of endpoints and methods of analysis can be observed in occupational health studies in the context of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). Comparison of study results is therefore difficult. We investigated the association between different clinical endpoints and the presence of upper extremity WMSDs in a healthy working population. Furthermore, the influence of socio-demographic, work-related, and individual predictors on different endpoints was examined. Two self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 70 workers and employees. In addition, a standardized physical examination and an industry test were performed in this cross-sectional study. Correlations between WMSDs and clinical endpoints were analyzed with the Spearman method and prediction ellipses. Multiple regression models were used to study the strength of associations with a pre-defined set of potential influencing factors. The prevalence of WMSDs was 56% (39/70). Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) score/pain under strain showed the strongest correlations with WMSDs. When analyzing the correlation between WMSDs and pre-selected predictors, none of the predictors could be identified as a risk factor. The DASH score remains a close candidate for best surrogate endpoint for WMSDs detection. Standardized analysis methods could improve the methodological quality of future occupational health studies.
Highlights
We found a correlation between the DASH score and Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) as well as Visual Analog Scale (VAS) under strain and WMSDs
The p-value has not quite reached the conventional significance level of 0.05 in our study (p = 0.056), the correlation we found between WMSDs and the DASH score may not be considered non-existent and could be of interest for the design of future studies [58]
We focused on a manageable number of potential risk factors, because an increasing number of predictors increases the probability of false positive effects, especially in smaller samples
Summary
The overall global prevalence for such conditions ranges from 4.0% to 30%, increasing with age, and the annual prevalence lies between 0.14% and 14.9% across different industries and work processes [3,4,5,6].
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