Diseases caused by repetitive trauma of the upper limbs: epidemiology, diagnosis, prevention. Epidemiological aspects

The association between occupational risk factors and musculo-skeletal disorders due to biomechanical overload (WMSDs) has been focused on numerous research projects, ranging from those simple observing the different pathological findings reported among workers performing particular tasks, down to the latest studies actually quantifying the exposure of workers to basic risk factors, as force, awkward posture, repetition and to modifying factors as duration, intensity, temporal profile and cold temperatures. The critical review of the epidemiological studies, taking into account their quality, showed a clear relationship between basic and modifying risk factors and upper limb pathologies. In particular, force exertion has been shown strongly related to neck, elbow and hand-wrist pathologies; repetition showed some convincing evidence of causal relationship to neck, shoulder and hand-wrist pathologies. Insufficient evidence of work relatedness has been shown between both repetition and awkward posture and elbow pathologies