title: Employment and occupational outcomes of workers with musculoskeletal pain in a French region.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the employment and occupational outcomes of workers who were diagnosed with upper limb musculoskeletal disorders (UL-MSDs) or had complained of upper limb musculoskeletal pain a few years before compared with workers who had no upper limb pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 2002-2005, an epidemiological surveillance system was set up. Occupational physicians examined 3710 randomly selected workers. It focused on six UL-MSDs: rotator cuff syndrome, lateral epicondylitis, flexor-extensor peritendinitis of the hands and fingers, de Quervain's disease, carpal tunnel syndrome and ulnar tunnel syndrome. Three groups were constituted: a 'UL-MSD' group (workers with a clinically diagnosed UL-MSD at baseline, 13% of the cohort); a 'PAIN' group (workers with pain in the previous 7 days at baseline and without any clinically diagnosed form, 38%); and a 'HEALTHY' group (workers with no disorder or upper limb pain in the previous 7 days, 49%). They completed a questionnaire between 2007 and 2009.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 2332 responded. Fewer subjects were still in work in the 'UL-MSD' group (79.3%) than in the 'PAIN' (85.9%) and 'HEALTHY' (90.4%) groups, the difference remaining significant after adjusting for gender, age, occupational category, type of company and comorbidities. Of the subjects still in work, 24% had changed their work station in the same company in the 'PAIN' group compared with 19% in the 'HEALTHY' group and 21% in the 'UL-MSD' group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed the impact of musculoskeletal pain on employment outcome and the difficulty of keeping workers with musculoskeletal problems at work.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'ergonomie et d'épidemiologie en santé au travail (LEEST), LUNAM Université, Université d'Angers, LEEST-UA InVS, Angers, France. celine.serazin@univ-angers.fr
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sérazin
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bodin
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Imbernon
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Roquelaure
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009790:Occupations; D012016:Reference Values; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D034941:Upper Extremity; D014937:Work