Citation

Seidel DH, Ditchen DM, Hoehne-Hückstädt UM, Rieger MA, Steinhilber B. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019; 16(1): ePub.

Affiliation

University Hospital Tuebingen, Institute of Occupational and Social Medicine and Health Services Research (IASV), 72074 Tuebingen, Germany. Benjamin.Steinhilber@med.uni-tuebingen.de.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph16010130

PMID

30621312

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders at the elbow are a common health problem, which highly impacts workers' well-being and performance. Besides existing qualitative information, there is a clear lack of quantitative information of physical risk factors associated with specific disorders at the elbow (SDEs).

OBJECTIVE: To provide evidence-based quantitative measures of physical risk factors associated with SDEs.

METHODS: Studies were searched from 2007 to 2017 in Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane Work. The identified risk factors were grouped in main- and sub-categories of exposure using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) framework for rating evidence.

RESULTS: 133 different risk-factor specifications were identified in 10/524 articles and were grouped into 5 main- and 16 sub-categories of exposure. The risk factors were significantly associated with lateral epicondylitis, medial epicondylitis, or ulnar neuropathy. Significant risk factors such as wrist angular velocity (5°/s, with increasing prevalence ratio of 0.10%/(°/s), or forearm supination (≥45° and ≥5% of time combined with forceful lifting) were found.

CONCLUSIONS: This review delivers a categorization of work-related physical risk-factor specifications for SDEs with a special focus on quantitative measures, ranked for evidence. These results may build the base for developing risk assessment methods and prospective preventive measures.

Language: en

Keywords

elbow disorders; epicondylitis; force; physical risk factors; posture; quantitative measures; repetition; ulnar neuropathy; work-related