title: Upper body musculoskeletal symptoms of Latino poultry processing workers and a comparison group of Latino manual workers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Upper body musculoskeletal injuries are often attributed to rapid work pace and repetitive motions. These job features are common in poultry processing, an industry that relies on Latino immigrants. Few studies document the symptom burden of immigrant Latinos employed in poultry processing or other manual jobs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Latino poultry processing workers (n = 403) and a comparison population of 339 Latino manual workers reported symptoms for six upper body sites during interviews. We tabulated symptoms and explored factors associated with symptom counts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Back symptoms and wrist/hand symptoms lasting more than 1-day were reported by over 35% of workers. Poultry processing workers reported more symptoms than comparison workers, especially wrist and elbow symptoms. The number of sites at which workers reported symptoms was elevated for overtime workers and workers who spoke an indigenous language during childhood.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Workplace conditions facing poultry processing and indigenous language speaking workers deserve further exploration.
authors: Department of Public Health Education, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina 27402-6170, USA. mrschulz@uncg.edu
authors: Mark R
authors: MR
authors: Schulz
authors: Joseph G
authors: JG
authors: Grzywacz
authors: Haiying
authors: H
authors: Chen
authors: Dana C
authors: DC
authors: Mora
authors: Thomas A
authors: TA
authors: Arcury
authors: Antonio J
authors: AJ
authors: Marín
authors: Maria C
authors: MC
authors: Mirabelli
authors: Sara A
authors: SA
authors: Quandt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001134:Arm Injuries / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D019567:Back Injuries / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D012090:Cumulative Trauma Disorders / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology*; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005260:Female; D005525:Food-Processing Industry; D006230:Hand Injuries / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology*; D019838:Neck Injuries / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology*; D011200:Poultry; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult