Associação entre distúrbios do ombro e trabalho: breve revisão da literatura Association between shoulder diseases and work: a brief review

Este artigo apresenta os resultados de uma breve revisão da literatura focalizada nos distúrbios do ombro. As publicações foram pesquisadas nos sites do Medline, Ovid, Lilacs e periódicos Capes, no período de janeiro de 1993 a julho de 2004, com as seguintes palavras-chave: shoulder pain, rotator cuff, job, dor no ombro, manguito rotador, trabalho. Foram selecionados os artigos de acordo com os seguintes critérios: estudo epidemiológico publicado em inglês, português ou espanhol, com informações sobre a carga física ou sobre os fatores psicossociais do trabalho, explicitação do método de avaliação da exposição, presença de dor no ombro ou tendinopatia do manguito rotador. Vinte artigos preencheram todos os critérios de inclusão. Encontrou-se associação positiva entre os distúrbios do ombro e o trabalho praticado pelos sujeitos dos estudos revisados. Restaram como limite da revisão: a heterogeneidade dos artigos quanto à avaliação da exposição, ao tipo de diagnóstico, à metodologia utilizada na condução da pesquisa, e aos meios para avaliação da dor. Os autores discutem a necessidade de aprofundamento dos métodos de investigação de problemas musculoesqueléticos relacionados ao trabalho.<br>This article presents the results of a brief review of shoulder diseases and their association with work. Pertinent studies, identified by the keywords shoulder pain, rotator cuff, and job were reviewed in the reference databases Medline, Ovid, Lilacs and Capes journals (January 1993 to July 2004). The articles were chosen according to the following criteria: either epidemiological or experimental surveys having been published in English, Portuguese or Spanish, with information about physical demands or psychosocial factors of work, evaluation of exposure, presence of shoulder pain or rotator cuff lesion. After the search, 20 articles were included in the revision. The articles show a relationship between shoulder diseases and working in awkward postures. The limitations to the revision observed were: heterogeneity of the exposure and diagnosis, methodological problems and the methods to evaluate pain. The authors discuss the need of new methods of investigation for work-related musculoskeletal diseases

Effects of concurrent physical and cognitive demands on muscle activity and heart rate variability in a repetitive upper-extremity precision task

© 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Purpose: Most previous studies of concurrent physical and cognitive demands have addressed tasks of limited relevance to occupational work, and with dissociated physical and cognitive task components. This study investigated effects on muscle activity and heart rate variability of executing a repetitive occupational task with an added cognitive demand integral to correct task performance. Methods: Thirty-five healthy females performed 7.5 min of standardized repetitive pipetting work in a baseline condition and a concurrent cognitive condition involving a complex instruction for correct performance. Average levels and variabilities of electromyographic activities in the upper trapezius and extensor carpi radialis (ECR) muscles were compared between these two conditions. Heart rate and heart rate variability were also assessed to measure autonomic nervous system activation. Subjects also rated perceived fatigue in the neck–shoulder region, as well as exertion. Results: Concurrent cognitive demands increased trapezius muscle activity from 8.2 % of maximum voluntary exertion (MVE) in baseline to 9.0 % MVE (p = 0.0005), but did not significantly affect ECR muscle activity, heart rate, heart rate variability, perceived fatigue or exertion. Conclusion: Trapezius muscle activity increased by about 10 %, without any accompanying cardiovascular response to indicate increased sympathetic activation. We suggest this slight increase in trapezius muscle activity to be due to changed muscle activation patterns within or among shoulder muscles. The results suggest that it may be possible to introduce modest cognitive demands necessary for correct performance in repetitive precision work without any major physiological effects, at least in the short term