Using Job-title Based Physical Exposures from O*NET in an Epidemiological Study of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Hum Factors
• Personal Author:
  Evanoff, Bradley ; Zeringue, Angelique ; Franzblau, Alfred ; Dale, Ann Marie
• Description:
  Objective
  
  We studied associations between job title based measures of force and repetition and incident carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).
  
  Background
  
  Job exposure matrices (JEMs) are not commonly used in studies of work-related upper extremity disorders.
  
  Methods
  
  We enrolled newly-hired workers into a prospective cohort study. We assigned a Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code to each job held and extracted physical work exposure variables from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET). CTS case definition required both characteristic symptoms and abnormal median nerve conduction.
  
  Results
  
  751 (67.8%) of 1107 workers completed follow-up evaluations. 31 subjects (4.4%) developed CTS during an average of 3.3 years of follow-up. Repetitive Motion, Static Strength, and Dynamic Strength from the most recent job held were all significant predictors of CTS when included individually as physical exposures in models adjusting for age, gender, and BMI. Similar results were found using time-weighted exposure across all jobs held during the study. Repetitive Motion, Static Strength, and Dynamic Strength were correlated, precluding meaningful analysis of their independent effects.
  
  Conclusion
  
  This study found strong relationships between workplace physical exposures assessed via a JEM and CTS, after adjusting for age, gender, and BMI. Though job title based exposures are likely to result in significant exposure misclassification, they can be useful for large population studies where more precise exposure data are not available.
  
  Application
  
  JEMs can be used as a measure of workplace physical exposures for some studies of musculoskeletal disorders.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adult Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Female Humans Male Occupational Diseases Occupations Prospective Studies Risk Factors Surveys And Questionnaires
• Source:
  Hum Factors. 56(1):166-177.
• Pubmed ID:
  24669551
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC4036526
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  R01 OH008017/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States ; UL1 RR024992/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/United States ; UL1 TR000448/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/United States
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Volume:
  56
• Issue:
  1
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:cf6adf37d2564e5a27a6b9527955c55afee6065bab801acaa8e5dcb4944f4a11
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/29973/cdc_29973_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 424.24 KB ]