The demographic and contextual correlates of work‐related repetitive strain injuries among canadian men and women

Abstract

Background The study sought to identify gender differences in work-related repetitive strain injuries (RSI), as well as examine the degree to which non-work factors such as family roles interact with gender to modify RSI risk. Another aim is to examine whether there are potential provincial differences in work-related RSI risk. Methods The 2003/2005 Canadian Community Health Survey included over 89,000 respondents who reported working in the past 12 months. Separate multi-level models for men and women were used to identify the correlates of work-related RSIs. Results Women reported sustaining more work-related RSIs than men. Also, having one or more children in the household was associated with lower work-related RSI risk for females. Both men and women in British Columbia reported higher work-related RSI rates than in Ontario. Conclusions Gender contributes to RSI risk in multiple and diverse ways based on labor market segregation, non-work exposures, and possibly biological vulnerability, which suggests more tailored interventions. Also, the provincial differences indicate that monitoring and surveillance of work injury across jurisdictions can assist in province-wide prevention and occupational health and safety evaluation. Am. J. Ind. Med. 56:1180-1189, 2013. ß 2013 KEY WORDS: gender differences; occupational health and safety; occupational injury; geographic; risk factors INTRODUCTIONWomen's participation in work has increased markedly over the last few decades. Currently, Canadian women made up 47% of total employment numbers [Labour Force Survey, 2012]. However, gender segregation in jobs continues to occur in the Canadian labor market [Chung et al., 2000]. For example, when one compares the top ten most common occupations for men and women, only "retail clerk" position appears in both lists [Messing and Stellman, 2006].Certain types of work-related musculoskeletal (MSK) and repetitive strain injury (RSI) symptoms are reported more frequently by working women than men in industrialized countries. For instance, an early review of 21 studies AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE 56:1180-1189 (2013 ß 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.examining neck and shoulder complaints by occupation and gender showed women having an increased prevalence compared to men [Hagberg and Wegman, 1987]. More recently, women in office settings reported more upper extremity complaints than men [Karlqvist et al., 2002;Janwantanakul et al., 2008]. Also lower extremity MSK complaints are higher among women as well [Messing et al., 2008;Messing et al., 2009]. However, less consistent is research examining back complaints, where some studies indicate increased prevalence for women [Krause et al., 1997;de Zwart et al., 1997], while others report increased prevalence for men [Leino-Arjas, 1998;Hooftman et al., 2009].Supporting the notion that work exposures are a major contributing factor for gender differences, some studies examining exposure differences tend to find that MSK complaints are not significantly different when comparing men ...

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