Abstract
OBJECTIVESTo determine the influence of short term exposure to mechanical factors on regional musculoskeletal pain.METHODSFull time newly employed workers were recruited from 12 occupational groups and information collected by questionnaire....
Highlights
Repetitive work was associated with neck and shoulder pain, seated work with neck and shoulder pain, and dynamic postures of the wrist and hand were associated with wrist and hand pain. To overcome these problems, using standardised methods we investigated the role of mechanical factors on the occurrence of musculoskeletal pain syndromes at several anatomical sites in newly employed workers, across a wide range of occupational groups
A total of 1081 workers took part in the study, with an overall response rate of 91%. This varied across occupational groups, with workers who were allocated time to complete the questionnaire during normal working hours more likely to respond
The individual associations were modest with no great specificity with the exception of forearm pain
Summary
To determine the influence of short term exposure to mechanical factors on regional musculoskeletal pain. 261 (24%) reported low back pain, 221 (20%) shoulder pain, 93 (9%) wrist or forearm pain, and 222 (21%) knee pain. Several specific manual handling activities were found to be associated with low back, shoulder, and knee pain. Carrying weights of more than 50 lbs (23 kg) on one shoulder was the factor which was most strongly associated with low back pain (OR 2.4 (95% CI 1.5 to 3.8)), shoulder pain (OR 3.1 (95% CI 1.9 to 4.8)), and knee pain (OR 3.5 (95% CI 2.2 to 5.5)), whereas forearm pain was most strongly associated with repetitive movements of the wrists (OR 1.8 (95% CI 1.04 to 3.1)). Conclusions—Even among workers with only short term exposure to mechanical factors, musculoskeletal pain is increased
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