Soft tissue disorders in the upper limbs of female garment workers.

Abstract

PUNNETT L, ROBINS JM, WEGMAN DH, KEYSERLING WM. Soft tissue disorders in the upper limbs of female garment workers. Scand J Work Environ Health 11 (1985) 417-425. In this cross-sectional investigation of female garment workers the prevalence of soft tissue disorders of the hands and arms was studied. The findings were compared with the prevalence of disorders in a group of female hospital employees not required to use repetitive hand motion. One hundred and eighty-eight garment workers and 76 hospital employees were surveyed by questionnaire and physical examination. The prevalences of persistent shoulder, wrist, and hand pain were significantly greater among the garment workers (rate ratio 2, 4, and 3, respectively). In both groups about 60 070 of the persistent hand pain was consistent with carpal tunnel syndrome (rate ratio 3). These associations held when the comparisons were stratified by age and by length of employment. Workers whose native language was not English were significantly less likely to report symptoms (rate ratio 0.6). Workers in hand sewing and trimming suffered especially high prevalences of persistent pain in all upper limb sites. Stitchers had elevated rates of pain in the shoulders, wrists, and hands. Workers ironing by hand had a significant elevation in elbow pain rates. Garment assembly tasks appear to be associated with cumulative trauma of the hands and wrists; the biomechanical features of these jobs should be studied in greater detail.

Musculoskeletal symptoms among sewing machine operators

“…Oilly a few of these persons were present for the follow up study; thus the absence of significant findings regarding this aspect should not be interpreted as a negative finding but as a noninformative one. The literature is inconsistent concerning the relationship between age or years of employment as a sewing machine operator and the prevalence of symptoms of the neck and shoulders, some finding correlations ( 1 -4 , 16) and others not (5,18,25).…”

“…Musculoskeletal disorders in the neck and shoulder region are frequent among worlters performing monotonous, highly repetitive, and high-speed precision tasks (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7). Numerous cross-sectional epidemiologic studies have identified sewing machine operators, office workers with visual display units (VDU operators), meat cutters, assembly-line workers, and the like as high-risk groups for developing musculoskeletal disorders in the neck and shoulders (7,8), and preventive strategies are needed (9-12).…”

Assis ou debout ?

“…Il faut tout d'abord rappeler que ces travailleuses oeuvraient antérieurement dans l'organisation traditionnelle de travail dont l'une des principales caractéristiques est d'être assise. Or comme le confirment un assez grand nombre de recherches sur la position assise et plus particulièrement sur les opératrices de machine à coudre, cette position est accompagnée de nombreux problèm es physiologiques et musculo-squelettiques (Sjogaard et al 1988 ;Vihma, Nurminen et Mutanen 1982 ;Serratos-Perez et Mendiola-Anda 1993 ;Vézina, Tierney et Messing 1992 ;Punnett et al 1985 ;Sokas, Spiegelman et Wegman 1989 ;Brisson, Vinet et Vézina 1989 ;Blader et al 1991 ;Li, Haslegrave et Corlett 1995 ;Laville 1985). Certains, comme la pression exercée sur les disques intervertébraux, dans la région lombaire, sont mêmes plus importants en position assise que debout (Grandjean et Hunting 1977 ;Nachemson 1966 ;Yates et Karwowski 1987, 1992.…”

La place des femmes dans les priorités de recherche en santé au travail au Québec

“…Des études ont été conçues pour mieux mesurer les types d'expositions retrouvées dans les emplois féminins (Silverstein, Fine et Armstrong 1985 ;Punnett et al 1985 ;Vézina, Tierney et Messing 1992 ;Dumais et al 1993 ;Messing et al 1998). La relation entre expositions domestiques et professionnelles dans la détermination de la fatigue, la dépression, les douleurs musculo-squelettiques et les troubles cardiovasculaires a fait l'objet de plusieurs études (Romito 1994 ;Brisson et al 1999 ;Bjorkstén et al 2001).…”