Follow-Up of Neck and Shoulder Pain Among Sewing Machine Operators: The Los Angeles Garment Study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Harrison RJ ; Rempel DM ; Ritz BR ; Wang PC ; Yu F
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study is to explore factors affecting or modifying self-reported neck/shoulder pain in sewing machine operators. METHODS: We investigated self-report neck/shoulder pain in 247 workers who participated in a 4-month prospective intervention study for musculoskeletal disorders. All participants were immigrants. We examine the influence of individual and work-related factors on changes in neck/shoulder pain during follow-up employing linear mixed models with time-spline functions. RESULTS: We observed a dramatic decline (72%) in self-reported pain intensity in the first month of follow-up, followed by a small increase from the first to fourth month (4% per month). Workers who perceived and reported their physical workload as high or worked overtime experienced less overall pain reduction. Higher baseline pain intensity, being of Hispanic ethnicity (vs. Asian), and taking cumulative daily rest time during work of 35 min or more allowing for muscles to rest were associated with a larger pain reduction in the first month, but not thereafter. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that some work-related factors may be of clinical relevance for reducing neck/shoulder pain. Having lower physical workloads and less overtime work should be considered when treating patients or planning workplace interventions for managing work-related musculoskeletal disorders in this underserved immigrant population. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biological Factors Ergonomics Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Race Factors Safety Surveys And Questionnaires Workplace
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Immigrant Biological-factors Equipment-operators Ergonomic Factory-workers Garment Industry Machine-operation Mathematical-models Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Musculoskeletal Disorder Neck And Shoulder Pain Posture Psychosocial Questionnaires Racial-factors Recovery Sewing Machine Sewing Machine Operator Statistical-analysis Work-environment Work-practices Work Organization Workplace-studies

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  352-360
• Volume:
  53
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20036750
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2010 Apr; 53(4):352-360
• Contact Point Address:
  Beate R. Ritz, Department of Epidemiology, UCLA, School of Public Health, 71-254 CHS, Box 951772, 650 Charles E. Young Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772
• Email:
  britz@ucla.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• Performing Organization:
  University of California - Los Angeles
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20020930
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20060929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1955b1f451b1c280b9e7b7252668780a5c74e95e31a8fb02f1abb578363c4a021c6b27c9021dac2dcf64a666857376d8a04d323508c0b84a8fcc8478f947c185
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188047/cdc_188047_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 141.96 KB ]