Ongoing Projects

Five Cohort Studies of Distal Upper-Extremity Musculoskeletal Disorders

Dr. Kurt Hegmann, Dr. Matthew Thiese, Dr. Andrew Merryweather, Dr. Eric Wood

Occupational Injury Prevention, Ergonomics and Safety, Occupational Medicine

This consortial study uses similar methods as the “Prospective Cohort of Distal Upper-Extremity Musculoskeletal Disorders” study also described on this website. The difference is that this study involves pooling of three to five prospective cohorts to create a larger sample size, which includes a collection of more diverse jobs. Cohorts involved are: University of California-San Francisco/Berkeley, Washington State L&I’s SHARP, University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Washington University, and NIOSH. RMCOEH worked with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to incept a joint cohort with identical methods.

The pooled study includes up to 2,800 workers from 54 employers in seven states (AR, IA, IL, MO, UT, WA, WI) to: 1) determine baseline musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) prevalence rates, 2) quantify job and individual risk factors, 3) validate existing job analysis methods, and 4) develop models for predicting risk of MSDs. The MSDs include carpal tunnel syndrome, lateral epicondylopathy, medial epicondylopathy, rotator cuff tendinopathy, and various wrist extensor/flexor tendon disorders.

The cohort completed baseline questionnaires, structured interviews, standardized physical exams, anthropometric measurements, and nerve conduction studies (NCS). Job physical measures included object weights, forces, repetition rates, % duration of exertion, posture, speed of work, and duration of work. Workers were contacted daily to monthly to annually (depending on cohort) for changes in symptoms, new symptoms development, and physical exams. Jobs were remeasured when there were significant changes.

This cohort study has thus far made many important discoveries.

Publications (some of 30):

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