title: Prevalence and risk factors of lateral epicondylitis in a mountain village in Japan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence and risk factors of lateral epicondylitis in a mountain village in Japan.
  
  
  METHODS
  176 men and 246 women aged 24 to 86 (mean, 61) years from a mountain village in Japan underwent regular medical examination and completed a self-administered questionnaire with items related to gender, weight, height, dominant hand, heaviness of labour (no job, light, intermediate, and heavy), presence of elbow pain 2 weeks before examination, and smoking and drinking experience. The diagnosis of lateral epicondylitis was based on self-reported symptoms and clinical signs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of lateral epicondylitis in a mountain village in Japan was 3.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.2%-6.1%). Of the 422 subjects, 47 had elbow pain and 16 of them were diagnosed to have definite lateral epicondylitis. 15 of them were right-handed and had involvement of the left (n=8) and right (n=7) sides; the remaining one was left-handed and had involvement of the left side. The dominant hand was not associated with the affected side (p=1.00). Heaviness of labour was not associated with the elbow pain scores. The prevalence was highest in subjects aged 50 to 59 years (9% [95% CI, 3.8%-17.1%]) and those with no job (14% [95% CI, 1.1%-44.1%]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lateral epicondylitis was not associated with gender, age, body mass index, dominant hand, heaviness of labour, smoking, or drinking.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma, Japan.
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tajika
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takagishi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013716:Tennis Elbow / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: cross-sectional studies; tennis elbow