Risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome related to the work organization: A prospective surveillance study in a large working population

The study aimed to determine the risk factors for incident carpal tunnel syndrome (O'S) in a large working population, with a special focus on factors related to work organization. In 2002-2005, 3710 workers were assessed and, in 2007-2010, 1611 were re-examined. At baseline all completed a selfadministered questionnaire about personal/medical factors and work exposure. as symptoms and physical examination signs were assessed by a standardized medical examination at baseline and followup. The risk of "symptomatic CTS" was higher for women (OR = 2.9 [1.7-5.2]) and increased linearly with age (OR = 1.04 [1.00-1.07] for 1-year increment). Two work organizational factors remained in the multivariate risk model after adjustment for the personal/medical and biomechanical factors: payment on a piecework basis (OR = 2.0, 95% Cl 1.1-3.5) and work pace dependent on automatic rate (OR = 1.9, 95% Cl 0.9-4.1). Several factors related to work organization were associated with incident CTS after adjustment for potential confounders. (c) 2014 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.