Documents musculoskeletal diseases 932 results

"Por medio de la recolección de datos para detectar la incidencia entre la organización del trabajo y la aparición de TME producto de las tareas que las camareras de Piso en España realizan, se pudo observar en la población de estudio afectaciones psicopatológicas determinadas en su mayoría por síntomas ansiosos y depresivos, como también, el consumo de medicamentos para aliviar el dolor crónico, con la consiguiente necesidad de las Licencias Médicas."

"Objective The aim of this randomized controlled trial (RCT) was to investigate the effectiveness of the Stay@Work participatory ergonomics (PE) program to prevent low-back and neck pain. Methods A total of 37 departments were randomly allocated to either the intervention (PE) or control group (no PE). During a six-hour meeting, working groups followed the PE steps and composed and prioritized ergonomic measures aimed at preventing low-back and neck pain. Subsequently, working groups were requested to implement the ergonomic measures in the departments. The primary outcomes were low-back and neck pain prevalence and secondary outcomes were pain intensity and duration. Data were collected by questionnaires at baseline, and after 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-months follow-up. Additionally, the course of low-back and neck pain (transitions from no symptoms to symptoms and from symptoms to no symptoms) was modeled. Results The randomization procedure resulted in 19 intervention departments (N=1472 workers) and 18 control departments (N=1575 workers). After 12 months, the intervention was not more effective than the control group in reducing the prevalence of low-back and neck pain or reducing pain intensity and duration. PE did not increase the probability of preventing low-back pain [odds ratio (OR) 1.23, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.97–1.57) or neck pain (OR 1.01, 95% CI 0.74–1.40). However, PE increased the probability of recovering from low-back pain (OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.01–1.96), but not from neck pain (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.72–1.26).Conclusion PE neither reduced low-back and neck pain prevalence nor pain intensity and duration nor was it effective in the prevention of low-back and neck pain or the recovery from neck pain. However, PE was more effective in the recovery from low-back pain."

"Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) are a major occupational health problem in Europe, affecting over 40 million workers. Current EU legislation includes some ergonomic provisions related to MSD prevention, but does not adequately address specifically Upper Limb Disorder-related MSD risks. In neither case - equipment use or design - have any specific common methodologies to estimate or evaluate risks for MSD been framed at European level. The TUTB has always argued that ergonomic aspects cannot be divorced from product design and use. Ergonomics is one thing that cannot be tacked on after a machine has been built - it must be designed in right from the start. This guide offers a collection of estimation methods selected from a range of sources that we believe may prove helpful in estimating MSD risk factors in machinery design. It does not claim to be a "quick-fix" problem solver for evaluating every risk factor. With this guide, we aim to feed knowledge from the actual use of machines back to designers' and manufacturers' drawing boards. We mean to factor the end users' perspectives into the design process by showing how workplace knowledge can be channelled into the conceptual of machinery design."

"The home care workforce, already at 2.7 million caregivers, will become the nation's fastest growing occupation by 2024 as the senior boom generation accelerates the demand for in home services to meet its long-term care needs. The physically challenging work of assisting clients with intimate, essential acts of daily living places home care workers (HCWs) at risk for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs); yet, HCWs typically receive little formal job training and may lack appropriate assistive devices. In this qualitative pilot study, HCW focus groups described workplace MSD risk factors and identified problem-solving strategies to improve ergonomic conditions. The results revealed that HCWs rely on their behavioral insights, self-styled communications skills and caring demeanor to navigate MSD risks to themselves and increase clients' physical independence of movement. We suggest changes in employer and government policies to acknowledge HCWs as valued team members in long-term care and to enhance their effectiveness as caregivers."

"Objectives
In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a rapid public health response which included mandatory working from home (WFH) for many employees. This study aimed to identify different trajectories of multisite musculoskeletal pain (MSP) amongst employees WFH during the COVID-19 pandemic and examined the influence of work and non-work factors.
Methods
Data from 488 participants (113 males, 372 females and 3 other) involved in the Employees Working from Home (EWFH) study, collected in October 2020, April and November 2021 were analysed. Age was categorised as 18–35 years (n = 121), 36–55 years (n = 289) and 56 years and over (n = 78). Growth Mixture Modelling (GMM) was used to identify latent classes with different growth trajectories of MSP. Age, gender, working hours, domestic living arrangements, workstation comfort and location, and psychosocial working conditions were considered predictors of MSP. Multivariate multinomial logistic regression was used to identify work and non-work variables associated with group membership.
Results
Four trajectories of MSP emerged: high stable (36.5%), mid-decrease (29.7%), low stable (22.3%) and rapid increase (11.5%). Decreased workstation comfort (OR 1.98, CI 1.02, 3.85), quantitative demands (OR 1.68, CI 1.09, 2.58), and influence over work (OR 0.78, CI 0.54, 0.98) was associated with being in the high stable trajectory group compared to low stable. Workstation location (OR 3.86, CI 1.19, 12.52) and quantitative work demands (OR 1.44, CI 1.01, 2.47) was associated with the rapid increase group.
Conclusions
Findings from this study offer insights into considerations for reducing MSP in employees WFH. Key considerations include the need for a dedicated workstation, attention to workstation comfort, quantitative work demands, and ensuring employees have influence over their work."

"Ce sera l'originalité de ce livre. De multiples exemples permettent aux spécialistes de se saisir de la question des conditions de travail, à partir du vécu de terrain. Le livre nous offre un tableau des principaux risques: souffrances psychiques, troubles musculosquelettiques (TMS), progression du travail de nuit, cancers, pollutions... La rage perce: pour les perturbateurs endocriniens et les pesticides, l'alerte date de soixante ans maintenant. Montrant les mensonges et les dissimulations de rapports officiels, l'auteur se soucie des «beaux outils à réparer»: inspection du travail, médecine du travail, comités hygiène sécurité et conditions de travail (CHSCT) et, bien sûr Sécurité sociale. Après les accidents industriels d'AZF (Toulouse) et de Lumizol (Rouen), l'auteur présente les possibilités et les nécessités d'un combat commun entre organisations syndicales et associations de riverains. Il indique les scandales qui pourraient bien éclater à cause des effets des radiations ionisantes cachées aux victimes."

"A number of studies analyze the link between the presence of psychosocial risk factors and work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The increase in job insecurity (JI) has resulted in a growing focus on its likely role as a risk factor within occupational health. Accordingly, the aim of this research was to carry out a systematic review of studies that include JI among the relevant risk factors, specifically drawing data from this variable to observe the significance of its association with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). For this purpose, a literature search was carried out: from a sample of 859 studies found and 23 were selected after applying the eligibility criteria. Fifteen studies (65.2% of the selection) presented statistically significant results regarding the link between JI and MSDs: the upper limbs and back were the body areas most affected by this association. In sum, JI should be considered a potential precursor of MSDs. Therefore, further study on this psychosocial risk and its association with these types of pathologies is necessary."

"This narrative review synthesizes and introduces 386 previous works about virtual reality-induced symptoms and effects by focusing on cybersickness, visual fatigue, muscle fatigue, acute stress, and mental overload. Usually, these VRISE are treated independently in the literature, although virtual reality is increasingly considered an option to replace PCs at the workplace, which encourages us to consider them all at once. We emphasize the context of office-like tasks in VR, gathering 57 articles meeting our inclusion/exclusion criteria. Cybersickness symptoms, influenced by fifty factors, could prevent workers from using VR. It is studied but requires more research to reach a theoretical consensus. VR can lead to more visual fatigue than other screen uses, influenced by fifteen factors, mainly due to vergence-accommodation conflicts. This side effect requires more testing and clarification on how it differs from cybersickness. VR can provoke muscle fatigue and musculoskeletal discomfort, influenced by fifteen factors, depending on tasks and interactions. VR could lead to acute stress due to technostress, task difficulty, time pressure, and public speaking. VR also potentially leads to mental overload, mainly due to task load, time pressure, and intrinsically due interaction and interface of the virtual environment. We propose a research agenda to tackle VR ergonomics and risks issues at the workplace."

"Objectives
The rapid shift to working from home (WFH) due to the COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to examine the relationship between preferred and actual days spent working from home on employees musculoskeletal pain (MSP) and stress in older workers.
Methods
This study uses three waves of data from the Employees Working from Home (EWFH) study collected in May 2021 (n = 451), November 2021 (n = 358) and May 2022 (n = 320) during the COVID-19 pandemic. A generalised mixed-effect model was used to model the relationships between preference and actual days spent WFH, stress and MSP. Exploratory mediation analysis was conducted to further explore significant relationships between actual days WFH and outcomes.
Results
WFH was associated with increasing stress levels in older participants, when the actual number of days WFH increased (B: 0.051, 95% CI: 0.008, 0.094) and when the number of days WFH exceeded their preferences (B: 0.218, 95% CI: 0.087, 0.349). Actual number of days spent WFH and stress in older employees was mediated through their sense of community (Indirect effect: 0.014, 95% CI: 0.003, 0.03; p = 0.006). The relationship between WFH and MSP was variable. For older employees, WFH more than their preferred number of days was associated with a higher likelihood of reporting MSP (OR: 4.070, 95% CI: 1.204, 13.757).
Conclusions
Findings from this study support the need for flexible policies to support WFH which take into account employees preferences. For older workers, a sense of community was found to be important and proactive attempts to restore this will be important for maintain their health and supporting sustainable employment."

"Objectives
This study aimed to construct and evaluate a gender-specific job exposure matrix (JEM) for 27 physical work exposures, based on self-report.
Methods
We constructed a JEM using questionnaire data on current physical exposures from 29 381 male and 35 900 female asymptomatic workers aged 18–69 years in the French CONSTANCES cohort study. We excluded workers with musculoskeletal pain to reduce potential reporting bias. We grouped 27 self-reported physical exposures using the French national job codes and stratified by gender. We compared individual and group-based exposures using the performance indicators Cohen's kappa (κ), sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating curve (AUC).
Results
JEM validation showed fair-to-moderate agreement (κ 0.21–0.60) for most physical exposures for both genders except for ‘reach behind' (poor), ‘bend neck' (poor), ‘finger pinch‘ (poor), standing' (good), ‘use computer screen' (good), and ‘use keyboard or scanner' (good). We found the highest AUC for ‘standing' (men 0.85/ women 0.87), ‘kneel/squat' (men 0.80/women 0.81), ‘use computer screen' (men/women 0.81), and ‘use keyboard or scanner' (men 0.82/ women 0.84). The AUC was <0.60 for only three exposures: ‘bend neck' (men 0.58/women 0.57), ‘finger pinch' (men 0.56/ women 0.55), and ‘reach behind' (men 0.54/ women 0.51).
Conclusion
The constructed JEM validation measures were comparable for men and women for all exposures. Further research will examine the predictive ability of this gender-specific JEM for musculoskeletal disorders and the relevance of gender-stratification in this process, knowing accuracy of each exposure."