Cross-sectional associations between occupational factors and musculoskeletal pain in women teachers, nurses and sonographers

A. Technical measurements of the physical workload. (DOCX 18 kb

Short- and long-term reliability of heart rate variability indices during repetitive low-force work

© 2014, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Purpose: Heart rate variability (HRV) is often monitored in occupational studies as a measure of cardiac autonomic activation, but the reliability of commonly used HRV indices is poorly understood. In the present study, we determined the variability between and within subjects of common HRV indices during a repetitive low-force occupational task, i.e., pipetting, and interpreted the results in terms of necessary sample sizes in studies comparing HRV between conditions or groups. Methods: Fourteen healthy female subjects performed a standardized pipetting task in the laboratory on three separate days within a short-time span ( < 2 weeks), and on one additional occasion 6 months later. A number of standard HRV indices were calculated in both time and frequency domains. For each HRV index, variance components were estimated between subjects, within subjects between occasions far apart in time, and within subjects between days within a 2-week period. Results: We found that the time interval between repeated measurements did not influence the extent of HRV variability, and that the reliability of the most HRV indices was sufficient for even small study samples (30 subjects or less) to be able to detect, with satisfying power ( > 0.80), a significant 10 to 20 % difference in HRV between groups, and between conditions within individuals. Conclusions: We conclude that HRV can be used as a reliable and feasible marker of autonomic activity in occupational studies of repetitive low-force work

Musculoskeletal health and work ability in physically demanding occupations: study protocol for a prospective field study on construction and health care workers

Abstract Background: Musculoskeletal disorders have a profound impact on individual health, sickness absence and early retirement, particularly in physically demanding occupations. Demographics are changing in the developed countries, towards increasing proportions of senior workers. These senior workers may have particular difficulties coping with physically demanding occupations while maintaining good health. Previous studies investigating the relationship between physical work demands and musculoskeletal disorders are mainly based on self-reported exposures and lack a prospective design. The aim of this paper is to describe the background and methods and discuss challenges for a field study examining physical demands in construction and health care work and their prospective associations with musculoskeletal disorders, work ability and sickness absence. Methods and design: This protocol describes a prospective cohort study on 1200 construction and health care workers. Participants will answer a baseline questionnaire concerning musculoskeletal complaints, general health, psychosocial and organizational factors at work, work demands, work ability and physical activity during leisure. A shorter questionnaire will be answered every 6 th months for a total of two years, together with continuous sickness absence monitoring during this period. Analysis will prospectively consider associations between self-reported physical demands and musculoskeletal disorders, work ability and sickness absence. To obtain objective data on physical exposures, technical measurements will be collected from two subgroups of N = 300 (Group A) and N = 160 (Group B) during work and leisure. Both group A and B will be given a physical health examination, be tested for physical capacity and physical activity will be measured for four days. Additionally, muscle activity, ground reaction force, body positions and physical activity will be examined during one workday for Group B. Analysis of associations between objectively measured exposure data and the outcomes described above will be done separately for these subpopulations. Discussion: The field study will at baseline produce objectively measured data on physical demands in the construction and health care occupations. In combination with clinical measurements and questionnaire data during follow-up, this will provide a solid foundation to prospectively investigate relationships between physical demands at work and development of musculoskeletal disorders, work ability and sickness absence