RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 0383 Use of an O*NET based job exposure matrix to predict prevalence of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in a large pooled cohort
JF Occupational and Environmental Medicine
JO Occup Environ Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP A48
OP A49
DO 10.1136/oemed-2014-102362.150
VO 71
IS Suppl 1
A1 Ann Marie Dale
A1 Angelique Zeringue
A1 Carisa Harris-Adamson
A1 Matt Thiese
A1 Stephen Bao
A1 Sue Burt
A1 Linda Merlino
A1 Arun Garg
A1 Ellen Eisen
A1 Fred Gerr
A1 Kurt Hegmann
A1 Jay Kapellusch
A1 David Rempel
A1 Barbara Silverstein
A1 Bradley Evanoff
YR 2014
UL http://oem.bmj.com/content/71/Suppl_1/A48.3.abstract
AB Objectives To determine if job title based physical exposure measures predicted prevalent carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in a large pooled cohort of workers. Method We pooled baseline examination data from six prospective cohort studies, restricting analyses to those employed at least 1 year. CTS was defined as median neuropathy plus typical symptoms. Physical exposure estimates for static strength, dynamic strength, time spent making repetitive motions, and time handling objects were extracted from the Occupational Network (O*NET) database using Standard Occupational Classification codes based on reported job title. Three exposure categories of high force/ high repetition, low force/ low repetition, and mixed high and low exposures were entered into logistic regression models adjusting for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, employed time and study site. Results Of 3562 in the pooled cohort, 7.6% met a prevalent CTS definition with mean employed time of 7.9 years (SD 8.2). Compared to subjects with low job requirements for dynamic strength and repetitive motion, those with mixed exposures or high exposures showed increased prevalence of CTS (OR 1.46; 95% CI: 1.01–2.11 and OR 2.32; 95% CI: 1.15–4.67, respectively). Similar dose dependent associations of combined exposures were shown for all exposure combinations tested, with high/high combinations having the largest effect sizes (OR range 2.32–3.17) relative to the low force/low repetition exposure combinations. Conclusions Use of job-title based exposures was useful for demonstrating associations with prevalent CTS. Jobs with combined high exposures of force and repetition showed consistently greater risk of CTS compared to jobs with lower exposure levels.