The CUPID (Cultural and Psychosocial Influences on Disability) study: methods of data collection and characteristics of study sample.
BACKGROUND
The CUPID (Cultural and Psychosocial Influences on Disability) study was established to explore the hypothesis that common musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and associated disability are importantly influenced by culturally determined health beliefs and expectations. This paper describes the methods of data collection and various characteristics of the study sample.


RESULTS
A standardised questionnaire covering musculoskeletal symptoms, disability and potential risk factors, was used to collect information from 47 samples of nurses, office workers, and other (mostly manual) workers in 18 countries from six continents. In addition, local investigators provided data on economic aspects of employment for each occupational group. Participation exceeded 80% in 33 of the 47 occupational groups, and after pre-specified exclusions, analysis was based on 12,426 subjects (92 to 1018 per occupational group). As expected, there was high usage of computer keyboards by office workers, while nurses had the highest prevalence of heavy manual lifting in all but one country. There was substantial heterogeneity between occupational groups in economic and psychosocial aspects of work; three- to five-fold variation in awareness of someone outside work with musculoskeletal pain; and more than ten-fold variation in the prevalence of adverse health beliefs about back and arm pain, and in awareness of terms such as "repetitive strain injury" (RSI).


CONCLUSIONS
The large differences in psychosocial risk factors (including knowledge and beliefs about MSDs) between occupational groups should allow the study hypothesis to be addressed effectively.
Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK. dnc@mrc.soton.ac.uk
David
D
Coggon
Georgia
G
Ntani
Keith T
KT
Palmer
Vanda E
VE
Felli
Raul
R
Harari
Lope H
LH
Barrero
Sarah A
SA
Felknor
David
D
Gimeno
Anna
A
Cattrell
Consol
C
Serra
Matteo
M
Bonzini
Eleni
E
Solidaki
Eda
E
Merisalu
Rima R
RR
Habib
Farideh
F
Sadeghian
Masood
M
Kadir
Sudath S P
SS
Warnakulasuriya
Ko
K
Matsudaira
Busisiwe
B
Nyantumbu
Malcolm R
MR
Sim
Helen
H
Harcombe
Ken
K
Cox
Maria H
MH
Marziale
Leila M
LM
Sarquis
Florencia
F
Harari
Rocio
R
Freire
Natalia
N
Harari
Magda V
MV
Monroy
Leonardo A
LA
Quintana
Marianela
M
Rojas
Eduardo J
EJ
Salazar Vega
E Clare
EC
Harris
Sergio
S
Vargas-Prada
J Miguel
JM
Martinez
George
G
Delclos
Fernando G
FG
Benavides
Michele
M
Carugno
Marco M
MM
Ferrario
Angela C
AC
Pesatori
Leda
L
Chatzi
Panos
P
Bitsios
Manolis
M
Kogevinas
Kristel
K
Oha
Tuuli
T
Sirk
Ali
A
Sadeghian
Roshini J
RJ
Peiris-John
Nalini
N
Sathiakumar
A Rajitha
AR
Wickremasinghe
Noriko
N
Yoshimura
Danuta
D
Kielkowski
Helen L
HL
Kelsall
Victor C W
VC
Hoe
Donna M
DM
Urquhart
Sarah
S
Derrett
Sarah
S
Derett
David
D
McBride
Andrew
A
Gray
D000328:Adult; D003469:Culture; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult