© 2004 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
EDITORIAL
Pain
Work related neck pain: how important is it, and how should we understand its causes?
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Professor L Punnett
Department of Work Environment, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA; laura_punnett@uml.edu
Commentary on the paper by Wahlström et al (Occup Environ Med, June 2004)*
Keywords: absenteeism; causal mechanism; musculoskeletal; neck; psychosocial
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) have been linked to many features of video display unit (VDU) operation, including duration and intensity of use.1 Neck pain has been less studied than the shoulder and the distal hand-wrist regions; the study by Wahlström and colleagues, published in the June 2004 issue of this journal,2 is a new and noteworthy exception.
Perhaps the lower level of attention to date is because neck pain is less serious and has less potential to cause disability. How long lasting and important are these symptoms? Do people recover readily, or do they progress to having more frequent and chronic pain? Do the disorders interfere with work or have other social or economic costs? And—especially important for occupational health and safety practitioners and clinicians—do the answers to these questions depend on whether the individuals are continuing to work in the same conditions under which the symptoms first
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- Commentary on the editorial by Punnett (Occup Environ Med 2004;61:954-55).
- Jens Wahlström, et al.
- Occup Environ Med Online, 26 Jan 2005 [Full text]
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