Journal article
Personal and workplace psychosocial risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome: a pooled study cohort: author response
Occupational and environmental medicine (London, England), Vol.71(4), pp.303-304
04/01/2014
DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2013-102070
PMID: 24503336
Abstract
Background Between 2001 and 2010, six research groups conducted coordinated multiyear, prospective studies of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) incidence in US workers from various industries and collected detailed subject-level exposure information with follow-up symptom, physical examination, electrophysiological measures and job changes.
Objective This analysis of the pooled cohort examined the incidence of dominant-hand CTS in relation to demographic characteristics and estimated associations with occupational psychosocial factors and years worked, adjusting for confounding by personal risk factors.
Methods 3515 participants, without baseline CTS, were followed-up to 7 years. Case criteria included symptoms and an electrodiagnostic study consistent with CTS. Adjusted HRs were estimated in Cox proportional hazard models. Workplace biomechanical factors were collected but not evaluated in this analysis.
Results Women were at elevated risk for CTS (HR=1.30; 95% CI 0.98 to 1.72), and the incidence of CTS increased linearly with both age and body mass index (BMI) over most of the observed range. High job strain increased risk (HR=1.86; 95% CI 1.11 to 3.14), and social support was protective (HR=0.54; 95% CI 0.31 to 0.95). There was an inverse relationship with years worked among recent hires with the highest incidence in the first 3.5 years of work (HR=3.08; 95% CI 1.55 to 6.12).
Conclusions Personal factors associated with an increased risk of developing CTS were BMI, age and being a woman. Workplace risk factors were high job strain, while social support was protective. The inverse relationship between CTS incidence and years worked among recent hires suggests the presence of a healthy worker survivor effect in the cohort.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Personal and workplace psychosocial risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome: a pooled study cohort: author response
- Creators
- Carisa Harris-Adamson - Samuel Merritt UniversityEllen Christoph Eisen - Univ Calif Berkeley, Dept Environm Hlth Sci, Berkeley, CA 94720 USAAnn Marie Dale - Washington University in St. LouisBradley Evanoff - Washington University in St. LouisKurt T. Hegmann - University of UtahMatthew S. Thiese - University of UtahJay Kapellusch - University of Wisconsin–MilwaukeeArun Garg - University of Wisconsin–MilwaukeeSusan Burt - National Institute for Occupational Safety and HealthBarbara Silverstein - United States Department of StateStephen Bao - United States Department of StateLinda Merlino - University of IowaFred Gerr - University of California, San FranciscoDavid Rempel - University of California, San Francisco
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Occupational and environmental medicine (London, England), Vol.71(4), pp.303-304
- Publisher
- Bmj Publishing Group
- DOI
- 10.1136/oemed-2013-102070
- PMID
- 24503336
- ISSN
- 1351-0711
- eISSN
- 1470-7926
- Number of pages
- 2
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 04/01/2014
- Academic Unit
- Occupational and Environmental Health; Epidemiology
- Record Identifier
- 9984363631302771
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