title: Musculoskeletal disorders of the neck and upper limb among sewing machine operators: a clinical investigation.
abstract: One hundred and seven women participated in a clinical study of an age-stratified random sample of sewing machine operators compared to a group of auxiliary nurses and home helpers. Four groups, according to years of being a sewing machine operator, consisted of: (controls) 25; (0-7 years) 21; (8-15 years) 25; and (more than 15 years) 36. The numbers of the main clinical diagnoses in the four groups were: cervicobrachial fibromyalgia (myofascial pain syndrome) 2, 4, 11, 24; cervical syndrome 0, 1, 3, 10; and rotator cuff syndrome 1, 1, 6, 11. The observed exposure-response relationship between clinical outcomes and years as a sewing machine operator was maintained when adjusting for current exposure to musculoskeletal strain and other potential confounders. Muscle palpation proved to be a reproducible examination with kappa values around 0.70.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Medicine, University Hospital of Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gaardboe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D020968:Brachial Plexus Neuritis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009017:Morbidity; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D011897:Random Allocation; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013783:Textile Industry; D013997:Time Factors