Musculoskeletal Disorders

Details

• Personal Author:
  Andersson GBJ ; Fine, Lawrence J. ; Silverstein BA
• Description:
  Work-related musculoskeletal disorders commonly involve the back, cervical spine, and upper extremities. Understanding of these problems has developed rapidly during the past decade. The two sections of this chapter provide an overview of these problems and a framework for recognizing and preventing them. Low back pain is one of the oldest occupational health problems in history. In 1713, Bernardino Ramazzini, the "founder" of occupational medicine, referred to "certain violent and irregular motions and unnatural postures of the body by which the internal structure" is impaired. Ramazzini examined the harmful effects of unusual physical activity on the spine, such as the sciatica caused by constantly turning the potter's wheel, lumbago from sitting, and hernias among porters and bearers of heavy loads. In addition to being one of the oldest occupational health problems, low back pain is one of the most common. Approximately 80% of workers experience low back pain sometime during their active working life. At any given moment, 10% to 15% of the adult U.S. population experiences low back pain (1,2). Back pain is the most frequent cause of activity limitation in people younger than 45 years of age, the second most frequent reason for physician visits, and the third ranking reason for surgical procedures. Approximately 11 % of Americans report low back impairment or a reduced ability to function. Every year, about 2% of the employed population lose time from work because of low back pain, and approximately half of these people receive compensation for lost wages. Lost time from low back pain averages 4 hours per worker per year, and among medical reasons for work absence it is second only to upper respiratory tract infections. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Back-injuries Injuries Injury-prevention Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Occupational-hazards Occupational-health Posture Spinal-cord-disorders Worker-health Workers
• ISBN:
  9780781719544
• Publisher:
  Lippincott Williams and Wilkins
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Book
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20029728
• Citation:
  Occupational health: recognizing and preventing work-related disease and injury, 4th edition. BS Levy, and DH Wegman, eds. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2000 Jan; :503-535
• Editor(s):
  Levy BS; Wegman DH
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2000
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Musculoskeletal Disorders of the Upper Extremities
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational health: recognizing and preventing work-related disease and injury, 4th edition
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3249ab83b84e4e15ac43335f918f67c4576d5711acd75aafcb49d62f4a791bd025f31e3154ccf61237487109eb4eefd602b317d7a5e926239f29136b483a1d2f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/190650/cdc_190650_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.47 MB ]