title: Musculoskeletal symptoms due to technical preconditions in long cycle time work in an automobile assembly plant: a study of prevalence and relation to psychosocial factors and physical exposure.
abstract: The aim was to evaluate the prevailing ergonomic conditions in a parallelized flow, long cycle time, assembly system. The evaluation focused on physical exposure, psychosocial factors and work-related musculoskeletal symptoms. A random sample of 67 assembly operators was included in a cross-sectional study mainly based on questionnaires. Hand/wrist symptoms were common and related to work exposure with hand-held powered tools. In general, the self-reported physical exposure showed only a few significant associations with musculoskeletal symptoms. This may in part be explained by the ergonomic conditions generally being good, with a relatively low duration of 'combined' extreme work postures. Significant associations were found between the psychosocial work environment and musculoskeletal symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Transportation and Logistics, Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Engström
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Hanse
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kadefors
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001336:Automobiles; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006804:Ergonomics; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000209:etiology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D020069:Shoulder Pain / Q000209:etiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D016526:Workload; D017132:Workplace; D014953:Wrist / Q000503:physiopathology