Bringing a structural perspective to work: Framing occupational safety and health disparities for nursing assistants with work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

Background: Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) experience a high risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) and are further made vulnerable by their situation in low levels of workplace and societal hierarchies of power and privilege.

Objective: This study applies structural vulnerability theory to CNA WMSD experiences in order to identify structural factors that may influence such injuries.

Methods: A sample of CNAs (n = 26) working in Nursing and Residential Care Facilities (NRCFs) was selected from workers who filed a claim during 2011-2014 for a WMSD of the back, shoulder, knee, or hand/wrist in the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries workers' compensation system.

Predicting work-related incidence of lateral and medial epicondylitis using the strain index.

Background: The Strain Index (SI) has been developed to evaluate the risk for developing a distal upper extremity disorder. The objective of this study is to determine if the SI predicts incidence cases of work-related lateral, medial, or any epicondylities (LEPI, MEPI, and EPI).

Methods: Six hundred seven workers were followed for up to 3.

The association between combination of hand force and forearm posture and incidence of lateral epicondylitis in a working population.

Objective: The objective of this prospective study is to investigate the exposure-response relationships between various workplace physical exposures of force, repetition, and their combination assessed at an individual level with lateral epicondylitis (LE).

Background: Workplace upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders (UEMSDs) are prevalent, disabling, and expensive. LE is one of the major UEMSDs in active workers.

Quantitative exposure-response relations between physical workload and prevalence of lateral epicondylitis in a working population.

Background: Lateral epicondylitis is a common work-related musculoskeletal disorder. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors associated with lateral epicondylitis among active workers.

Methods: Seven-hundred thirty-three workers in 12 Washington worksites participated in structured interviews, physical examinations, and individual exposure assessments of biomechanical and psychosocial factors.