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The influence of work-related exposures on the prognosis of neck/shoulder pain

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Abstract

To determine associations between work-related exposures and the prognosis of self-reported neck/shoulder pain. This prospective cohort study was based on 803 working subjects who reported neck/shoulder pain at baseline. The proportion of subjects who 5–6 years later were symptom-free was calculated. Data concerning work-related biomechanical, psychosocial, and organizational exposures were collected at baseline. The Cox regression analyses were used to calculate the relative chances (RC) of being symptom-free at the end of the study for single exposures, and also for up to three simultaneous work-related exposures. Adjustments were made for sex and age. Only 36% of the subjects were symptom-free 5–6 years later. The relative chance for being symptom-free at the end of the study was 1.32 (95% CI = 0.99–1.74) for subjects who were exposed to sitting ≥75% of the working time and 1.53 (95% CI = 1.02–2.29) for subjects who were exposed to job strain, i.e., the combination of high demands and low decision latitude. The relative chance of being symptom-free at the end of the study was 0.61 (95% CI = 0.40–0.94) for subjects with at least two out of three simultaneous biomechanical exposures at work; manual handling, working with the hands above shoulder level, and working with vibrating tools. In a heterogeneous population with moderate nonspecific neck/shoulder pain, sedentary work enhanced the chance of being symptom-free 5–6 years later, whereas simultaneous exposures to at least two of manual handling, working with hands above shoulder level and working with vibrating tools were associated with a lower chance of being symptom-free at the end of the study. This could imply that subjects with neck/shoulder pain should avoid such simultaneous exposures.

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Notes

  1. Working at least 17 h/week.

  2. Newton

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research, the Center for Health Care Sciences, and Stockholm County Council. The authors would like to thank Linda Norrman for her help with the statistical analyses, as well as all collaborators in the MUSIC-Norrtälje study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Occupational Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Norrbacka, 171 76, Stockholm, Sweden

    Wilhelmus Johannes Andreas Grooten & Christina Wiktorin

  2. Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Stockholm County Council, Norrbacka, 171 76, Stockholm, Sweden

    Wilhelmus Johannes Andreas Grooten, Marie Mulder & Christina Wiktorin

  3. Department of Medical Sciences, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Malin Josephson

  4. Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Lars Alfredsson

Authors
  1. Wilhelmus Johannes Andreas Grooten
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  2. Marie Mulder
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  3. Malin Josephson
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  4. Lars Alfredsson
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  5. Christina Wiktorin
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Correspondence to Wilhelmus Johannes Andreas Grooten.

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Grooten, W.J.A., Mulder, M., Josephson, M. et al. The influence of work-related exposures on the prognosis of neck/shoulder pain. Eur Spine J 16, 2083–2091 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-007-0481-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-007-0481-0

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