Prevalence and risk factors of tendinitis and related disorders of the distal upper extremity among U.S. workers: comparison to carpal tunnel syndrome.
BACKGROUND
National estimates of tendinitis and related disorders of the distal upper extremity among U.S. workers have not been available with the exception of carpal tunnel syndrome.


METHODS
The Occupational Health Supplement Data of the 1988 National Health Interview Survey were analyzed for tendinitis and related disorders of the hand/wrist and elbow (distal upper extremity) using the Survey Data Analysis (SUDAAN) software.


RESULTS
Among the 30,074 respondents (statistically weighted population of 127 million) who had worked anytime during the previous 12 months, 0.46% (95% CI: 0.36, 0.56) reported that they experienced a "prolonged" hand discomfort which was called tendinitis, synovitis, tenosynovitis, deQuervain's disease, epicondylitis, ganglion cyst, or trigger finger, by a medical person. This corresponds to 588,000 persons (95% CI: 457,000; 712,000) reporting one of these disorders, 28% (or 164,000) of which were thought to be work-related by the medical person. Among various risk factors examined by multiple logistic regression analysis, bending/twisting of the hands/wrists at work and female gender were significantly associated with reporting of these disorders.


CONCLUSIONS
By combining these cases with the previously reported cases of work-related carpal tunnel syndrome, we estimate that there were approximately 520,000 cases of work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the distal upper extremity among US workers in 1988.
Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Public Health Service, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226, USA. sxt16@cdc.gov
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Tanaka
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Petersen
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Cameron
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001134:Arm Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002349:Carpal Tunnel Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D052256:Tendinopathy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology