Quantitative Measures of Physical Risk Factors Associated with Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders of the Elbow: A Systematic Review.

Background: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders at the elbow are a common health problem, which highly impacts workers' well-being and performance. Besides existing qualitative information, there is a clear lack of quantitative information of physical risk factors associated with specific disorders at the elbow (SDEs).

Objective: To provide evidence-based quantitative measures of physical risk factors associated with SDEs.

Constrained posture in dentistry - a kinematic analysis of dentists.

Background: How a dentist works, such as the patterns of movements performed daily, is also largely affected by the workstation Dental tasks are often executed in awkward body positions, thereby causing a very high degree of strain on the corresponding muscles. The objective of this study is to detect those dental tasks, during which awkward postures occur most frequently. The isolated analysis of static postures will examine the duration for which these postures are maintained during the corresponding dental, respectively non-dental, activities.

Do Occupational Risks for Low Back Pain Differ From Risks for Specific Lumbar Disc Diseases?: Results of the German Lumbar Spine Study (EPILIFT).

Study Design: A multicenter, population based, case-control study.

Objective: The aim of the present analysis is to clarify potential differences in the "occupational risk profiles" of structural lumbar disc diseases on the one hand, and low back pain (LBP) on the other hand.

Summary Of Background Data: Physical workplace factors seem to play an important etiological role.

Restricted posture in dentistry - a kinematic analysis of orthodontists.

Background: This study aims at identifying orthodontic activities with the highest frequency of unfavorable/awkward and static postures held over a period of more than 4 s based on kinematic analysis. Moreover, a separate analysis of static postures for orthodontic and non-orthodontic activities serves to evaluate the duration for which these particular postures are assumed.

Methods: In total, 21 (13f/8 m) orthodontists (age: 31.

Kinematic analysis of work-related musculoskeletal loading of trunk among dentists in Germany.

Background: In Germany, about 86.7 % of the dentists have stated to suffer from pain in the neck and shoulder region. These findings are predominantly based on surveys.

Medical work assessment in German hospitals: a study protocol of a movement sequence analysis (MAGRO-MSA).

Background: Medical doctors are essential for the German public and occupational health system. They ensure the productivity of German society by enabling people to regain and recover their health. That is why the physicians' health and hence their productivity require special attention.

Occupational kneeling and squatting: development and validation of an assessment method combining measurements and diaries.

Objectives: As knee-straining postures such as kneeling and squatting are known to be risk factors for knee disorders, there is a need for effective exposure assessment at the workplace. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a method to capture knee-straining postures for entire work shifts by combining measurement techniques with the information obtained from diaries, and thus avoiding measuring entire work shifts. This approach was applied to various occupational tasks to obtain an overview of typical exposure values in current specific occupations.

Validity of self-reports of knee-straining activities at work: a field study with 6-month follow-up.

Objectives: To measure short-term and long-term validity of self-reported duration of kneeling and squatting at work and to examine the possibility of differential misclassification due to knee complaints.

Methods: Work-related kneeling and squatting were analysed for 190 male subjects (mean age, 35.0 and SD, 11.

Cumulative occupational lumbar load and lumbar disc disease--results of a German multi-center case-control study (EPILIFT).

Background: The to date evidence for a dose-response relationship between physical workload and the development of lumbar disc diseases is limited. We therefore investigated the possible etiologic relevance of cumulative occupational lumbar load to lumbar disc diseases in a multi-center case-control study.

Methods: In four study regions in Germany (Frankfurt/Main, Freiburg, Halle/Saale, Regensburg), patients seeking medical care for pain associated with clinically and radiologically verified lumbar disc herniation (286 males, 278 females) or symptomatic lumbar disc narrowing (145 males, 206 females) were prospectively recruited.