Study of risk factors of upper limbs musculoskeletal disorders at La Poste
Étude des facteurs de risque des troubles musculosquelettiques des membres supérieurs à La Poste
Résumé
Objective. To identify risk factors related to occupational musculoskeletal disorders of the upper limbs in the French Post office workers. Methods. Between 2008 and 2010, 45 occupational physicians gathered during consultation anonymous information relating to the organization and the working environment of 703 post office workers with musculoskeletal disorders. A control group of 466 workers free of musculoskeletal disorders was formed from the same medical consultations. Variables related to physical effort and psychosocial factors were grouped into scores. Results. A bad biomechanical score (OR = 4.3,95% CI = (2.3, 7.8), a poor psychosocial score (OR = 3.5, 95% CI = (2.5, 5.1)), female gender (OR = 2.9,95% CI = (2.2, 4.0)), age over 50 years (OR = 3.0, 95% CI = (2.1, 4.4)) are the main risk factors identified. The sorting work including manual sorting, handling and working on machine are associated with high risk of MSDs as well as bicycle and pedestrian distribution. Shoulder lesions are more frequent than those of wrist and elbow. Conclusion. This descriptive study explores individual factors and others work-related organizational and environmental factors that are associated with the risk of MSDs. An etiological analysis of the case control type should be conducted to test these hypotheses. However, ways to strengthen prevention efforts are already definable. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.