The Impaired Healing Hypothesis: A Mechanism by Which Psychosocial Stress and Personal Characteristics Increase MSD Risk?

Details

• Personal Author:
  Barbe MF ; Gallagher S
• Description:
  While the effects of physical risk factors on MSD development have been a primary focus of musculoskeletal research, psychological stressors, and certain personal characteristics (e.g. ageing, sex, and obesity) are also associated with increased MSD risk. The psychological and personal characteristics listed above share a common characteristic: all are associated with disruption of the body's neuroendocrine and immune responses resulting in an impaired healing process. An impaired healing response may result in reduced fatigue life of musculoskeletal tissues due to a diminished ability to keep pace with accumulating damage (perhaps reparable under normal circumstances), and an increased vulnerability of damaged tissue to further trauma owing to the prolonged healing process. Research in engineered self-healing materials suggests that decreased healing kinetics in the presence of mechanical loading can substantially reduce the fatigue life of materials. A model of factors influencing damage accrual and healing will be presented. Practitioner summary: This article provides a potential reason why musculoskeletal disorder risk is affected by psychosocial stress, age, sex, and obesity. The reason is that these factors are all associated with a slower than normal healing response. This may lead to faster damage development in musculoskeletal tissues resulting in higher MSD risk. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Coal Coal Mining Computers Education Metals Mining Occupational Health Safety Software Staff Development

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• Keywords:
  Age Aging Author Keywords: Musculoskeletal Disorders Biomechanics Body Mechanics Ergonomics Fatigue Fatigue Failure MSD Muscle Tissue Musculoskeletal Disorders Obesity Healing Psychological Stress Psychosocial Factors Sex Stress

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• ISSN:
  0014-0139
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  65
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20067034
• Citation:
  Ergonomics 2022 Apr; 65(4):573-586
• Contact Point Address:
  Sean Gallagher, Industrial and Systems Engineering Department, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
• Email:
  seangallagher@auburn.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Ergonomics
• End Date:
  20270630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c93d8a03f33a45aa4e0c0c0ae5541f897dcda414a16e8bd533ac54961c129378f1cf57ecdac0230dbfa467b2e4bdd708cb073d352f6203ef9b73928e20a468ce
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/231256/cdc_231256_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.69 MB ]