Documents lower extremity disorders 4 results

"OBJECTIVES:
Several studies have reported male-female differences in the prevalence of symptoms of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), some arising from workplace exposure differences. The objective of this paper was to compare two strategies analyzing a single dataset for the relationships between risk factors and MSD in a population-based sample with a wide range of exposures.
METHODS:
The 1998 Québec Health and Social Survey surveyed 11 735 respondents in paid work and reported "significant" musculoskeletal pain in 11 body regions during the previous 12 months and a range of personal, physical, and psychosocial risk factors. Five studies concerning risk factors for four musculoskeletal outcomes were carried out on these data. Each included analyses with multiple logistic regression (MLR) performed separately for women, men, and the total study population. The results from these gender-stratified and unstratified analyses were compared.
RESULTS:
In the unstratified MLR models, gender was significantly associated with musculoskeletal pain in the neck and lower extremities, but not with low-back pain. The gender-stratified MLR models identified significant associations between each specific musculoskeletal outcome and a variety of personal characteristics and physical and psychosocial workplace exposures for each gender. Most of the associations, if present for one gender, were also found in the total population. But several risk factors present for only one gender could be detected only in a stratified analysis, whereas the unstratified analysis added little information.
CONCLUSIONS:
Stratifying analyses by gender is necessary if a full range of associations between exposures and MSD is to be detected and understood."

"The epidemiologic literature on lower extremity musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), vascular disorders, and occupational mechanical factors is relatively sparse, compared to the low back and upper extremities. The present literature review aims to summarize and evaluate the current literature on lower extremity vascular disorders, MSDs, and symptoms, and to update previous literature reviews. A search was conducted in PubMed. Articles were included if they had a lower extremity musculoskeletal outcome, and a workplace factor(s). They were evaluated based upon their generalizability, exposure, and outcome assessments, study design, and controlling of confounders. Most of the literature has focused on osteoarthritis of the hip and knee, whereas not much research has been done examining the feet/ankles and lower legs. Overall, better exposure assessment is needed to examine the causal pathway between occupational factors and MSDs."(Authors' abstract)

"The relation between lipoatrophia semicircularis (LS--band-like circular depressions and isolated atrophy of the subcutaneous fatty tissue on the anterior thighs and sitting posture or pressure on the seat surface of office chairs was investigated in an office environment. A questionnaire was presented to 21 subjects and electromyographic measurements, video analysis and pressure measurements were performed. Remarkable posture differences between the LS group and the group without LS were found: less use of the lumbar support of the chair, static sitting postures and a too high seat surface of the office chair were characteristics of the subjects with LS. These observations were confirmed by higher pressure measurements for the subjects with LS. In addition, highly significant pressure differences were found between different chairs."

"On soupçonnait depuis longtemps un lien entre le travail et les lésions chroniques aux articulations dont souffrent des milliers de travailleurs. L'avancement de la recherche scientifique permet aujourd'hui d'établir ce rapport dans le cas de nombreux troubles musculo-squelettiques. La démonstration de cette relation est au cœur du présent ouvrage de référence sur les lésions attribuables au travail répétitif (LATR). Elle s'appuie sur l'évaluation scientifique des connaissances actuelles et des pratiques de prévention en cours. Cette évaluation a été réalisée par un groupe international de travail formé à l'instigation de l'Institut de recherche en santé et en sécurité du travail du Québec.

Cet ouvrage a été conçu pour répondre aux besoins d'information tant des scientifiques que des praticiens en santé et en sécurité du travail et du grand public. On y propose un cadre conceptuel concernant les LATR et définit la relation des divers troubles musculo-squelettiques avec le travail. Surtout, on explore les différentes facettes de la prévention de ces lésions multifactorielles. Le lecteur y trouvera des analyses sur l'identification des facteurs de risque, un modèle de surveillance, des recommandations en ce qui a trait à la gestion des solutions et au changement, ainsi qu'un aperçu de la documentation offerte sur la formation et le suivi médical en matière de LATR."