RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Occupational risk factors for work disability following carpal tunnel syndrome: a pooled prospective study
JF Occupational and Environmental Medicine
JO Occup Environ Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 442
OP 451
DO 10.1136/oemed-2021-107771
VO 79
IS 7
A1 Harris-Adamson, Carisa
A1 Eisen, Ellen A
A1 Kapellusch, Jay
A1 Hegmann, Kurt T
A1 Thiese, Matthew S
A1 Dale, Ann-Marie
A1 Evanoff, Bradley
A1 Meyers, Alysha Rose
A1 Bao, Stephen
A1 Gerr, Fred
A1 Krause, Niklas
A1 Rempel, David
YR 2022
UL http://oem.bmj.com/content/79/7/442.abstract
AB Background Although recent studies have identified important risk factors associated with incident carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), risk factors associated with its severity have not been well explored.Objective To examine the associations between personal, workplace psychosocial and biomechanical factors and incident work disability among workers with CTS.Methods Between 2001 and 2010 five research groups conducted coordinated prospective studies of CTS and related work disability among US workers from various industries. Workers with prevalent or incident CTS (N=372) were followed for up to 6.4 years. Incident work disability was measured as: (1) change in work pace or work quality, (2) lost time or (3) job change following the development of CTS. Psychosocial factors were assessed by questionnaire. Biomechanical exposures were assessed by observation and measurements and included force, repetition, duty cycle and posture. HRs were estimated using Cox models.Results Disability incidence rates per 100 person-years were 33.2 for changes in work pace or quality, 16.3 for lost time and 20.0 for job change. There was a near doubling of risk for job change among those in the upper tertile of the Hand Activity Level Scale (HR 2.17; 95% CI 1.17 to 4.01), total repetition rate (HR 1.75; 95% CI 1.02 to 3.02), % time spent in all hand exertions (HR 2.20; 95% CI 1.21 to 4.01) and a sixfold increase for high job strain. Sensitivity analyses indicated attenuation due to inclusion of the prevalent CTS cases.Conclusion Personal, biomechanical and psychosocial job factors predicted CTS-related disability. Results suggest that prevention of severe disability requires a reduction of both biomechanical and organisational work stressors.Data are available on reasonable request. Individuals or groups who would like to use the dataset to address specific scientific questions must provide a proposal to the ULMSD Consortium for full consideration. For more information, please email carisa.harris-adamson@ucsf.edu.