The Risk of Neck, Shoulder and Upper Limb Musculoskeletal Disorders due to Interactions between Physical and Psychosocial Work Risk Factors

Abstract

Objectives - To investigate the possible interactions between physical and psychosocial risk factors in the workplace that may be associated with self-reported neck and upper-limb musculoskeletal disorder symptoms. Methods - 891 of 1514 manual handlers, delivery drivers, technicians, customer services computer operators and general office staff reported physical and psychosocial working conditions and neck and upper-limb disorder symptoms using a self-administered questionnaire (59% return rate). Of the 869 valid questionnaire respondents, 564 individual workers were classified in to one of four exposure groups: high physical - high psychosocial, high physical - low psychosocial, low physical - high psychosocial and low physical - low psychosocial. Results - The highest increase in risk was found in the high physical - high psychosocial exposure group for upper limb disorders. In the analyses, a departure from an additive risk model was observed for the upper-limb outcome definitions but not for those of the neck. Conclusions - This study suggests that an interaction effect between physical and psychosocial risk factors in the workplace may exist to increase the risk of self-reported upper-limb disorders.