Work-organisational and personal factors associated with upper body musculoskeletal disorders among sewing machine operators.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the contribution of work-organisational and personal factors to the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) among garment workers in Los Angeles. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of self-reported musculoskeletal symptoms among 520 sewing machine operators from 13 garment industry sewing shops. Detailed information on work-organisational factors, personal factors, and musculoskeletal symptoms were obtained in face-to-face interviews. The outcome of interest, upper body WMSD, was defined as a worker experiencing moderate or severe musculoskeletal pain. Unconditional logistic regression models were adopted to assess the association between both work-organisational factors and personal factors and the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain. RESULTS: The prevalence of moderate or severe musculoskeletal pain in the neck/shoulder region was 24% and for distal upper extremity it was 16%. Elevated prevalence of upper body pain was associated with age less than 30 years, female gender, Hispanic ethnicity, being single, having a diagnosis of a MSD or a systemic illness, working more than 10 years as a sewing machine operator, using a single sewing machine, work in large shops, higher work-rest ratios, high physical exertion, high physical isometric loads, high job demand, and low job satisfaction. CONCLUSION: Work-organisational and personal factors were associated with increased prevalence of moderate or severe upper body musculoskeletal pain among garment workers. Owners of sewing companies may be able to reduce or prevent WMSDs among employees by adopting rotations between different types of workstations thus increasing task variety; by either shortening work periods or increasing rest periods to reduce the work-rest ratio; and by improving the work-organisation to control psychosocial stressors. The findings may guide prevention efforts in the garment sector and have important public health implications for this workforce of largely immigrant labourers.

Allergic sensitization owing to 'second-hand' cat exposure in schools.

BACKGROUND: Environmental allergen loads play an important role in triggering symptoms in atopic individuals. While a number of previous studies have shown that cat allergens (Fel d 1) can be found in school dust samples, no study has provided evidence that public places contribute to increased atopic sensitization rates in children. METHODS: We employed data collected in a health survey of school children living in Germany in order to examine the association between the proportion of class- and schoolmates reporting cat contact and sensitization rates in children. RESULTS: Among 1893 children, 8.7% were sensitized to cats. Those sensitized were 5-7 times more likely to have received an asthma diagnosis or to have reported wheezing. Pupils without regular contact with cats were twice as likely to test positive for major cat allergen when the proportion of schoolmates with cat contact was high. No such relation was observed amongst children reporting regular cat contact. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that allergens in school environments contribute to allergic sensitization and atopic diseases such as asthma. Thus, methods to reduce the allergen load in classrooms should be considered.

Humeral epicondylitis among gas- and waterworks employees.

OBJECTIVES: In this cross-sectional study 290 male employees of the public gas- and waterworks of Hamburg, Germany, were examined for symptoms of epicondylitis. Forty-one workers were diagnosed with symptoms of lateral or medial epicondylitis. The effect of employment in different job categories on the prevalence of epicondylitis was explored. METHODS: The diagnosis of epicondylitis was based on the study's own criteria and compared with criteria used in former studies. Jobs were categorized into high, moderate, and no exposure groups according to tasks regarded as strenuous for the elbow. The data were analyzed with the help of multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: With the study's diagnostic criteria, the prevalence odds ratio (OR) for 10 years of high exposure to elbow straining work was 1.7 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.04-2.68] for currently held jobs and 2.16 (95% CI 1.08-4.32) for formerly held jobs. For workers regarded as moderately exposed in current jobs the odds ratio for 10 years was 1.4 (95% CI 1.00-1.93). Very similar results were obtained for current exposure when stricter diagnostic criteria were employed. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest a cumulative exposure effect with length of employment. Workers with high exposure in former jobs compared with employees with high exposure in their current job exhibited more residual or slight epicondylitis symptoms upon examination.