The dynamic course of musculoskeletal disorders in an assembly line factory.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the course of employee-individual clinical status with respect to upper limb musculoskeletal disorders (UL-MSDs), epidemiological surveillance of UL-MSDs was implemented for three consecutive years at a household appliance assembly company.


METHODS
A standardized clinical examination guide was used to survey UL-MSDs of employees seen in annual consultation. Recorded data included eight specific UL-MSDs as well as the main sociodemographic characteristics of employees. Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed. Significance was defined as P<0.05. All statistical analysis were performed with Statgraphics (version 5.1) software.


RESULTS
During three consecutive years, 459 employees were seen in the occupational medicine consultation. The annual prevalence of UL-MSD cases was 20.2% in 2000, 21.7% in 2001 and 24.0% in 2002. In fact, this relative stability conceals significant renewal of the population suffering from UL-MSDs with time, illustrated by both a high rate of annual incidence of cases (9.8 and 13.5% in 2001 and 2002, respectively) and a high rate of annual recoveries (37.0 and 44.3% in 2001 and 2002, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
Factors governing variation in individual clinical status of employees with respect to UL-MSDs and their interactions remain little known and open up interesting research prospects.
Working Life Department, Biomechanics and Ergonomics Laboratory, INRS Avenue de Bourgogne BP 27, 54501, Vandoeuvre Cedex, France. aublet@inrs.fr
Agnès
A
Aublet-Cuvelier
Michel
M
Aptel
Huguette
H
Weber
D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016272:Occupational Health; D010808:Physical Examination; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000503:physiopathology