Men and women who work in the leather and shoe industry or in the automotive industry suffer more than average from carpal tunnel syndrome, the pain of which in the hand and wrist can be very debilitating.
- Carpal tunnel syndrome refers to all of these symptoms: tingling, sensory disturbances and decreased strength, located in the first 3 fingers of the hand.
- They are due to compression of the median nerve as it passes through the carpal tunnel at the wrist.
In France, the rate of under-reporting of carpal tunnel syndrome, the second pathology recognized as an occupational disease, was estimated in 2015 at 43%. The goal ofa new study by Public Health France “was therefore to determine the fractions of risk of carpal tunnel syndrome attributable in those exposed (FRAE) to occupational activity, within occupations and sectors of activity at risk”, explain the authors in a press release.
Excess risk
To do this, data from patients operated on for carpal tunnel syndrome from two studies conducted in Maine-et-Loire (2002-2003) and in Bouches-du-Rhône (2008-2009) were analyzed. “The calculation was based on the determination of the relative risk of the profession or sector adjusted for age, according to the Mantel-Haenszel method”, say the scientists.
Among male and female workers, three-quarters of cases of carpal tunnel syndrome are attributable to the excess risk associated with the exercise of the profession. The industries with the highest carpal tunnel syndrome FRAEs were the leather and footwear industry for men (FRAE=93%) and the automotive industry for women ( FRAE=89%). For specific occupations, it was skilled roofers among men (FRAE=97%) and workers in market gardening and horticulture among women (FRAE=94%). “Within the same sector of activity, certain occupations had higher work-attributable risk fractions than others, including in sectors not showing an overall excess risk of carpal tunnel syndrome”, say the authors of the study.
“Identify jobs at risk”
The calculation of the FRAEs for the different sectors of activity and/or professions of carpal tunnel syndrome allows, when this calculation is possible, “to identify jobs at risk and thus contributes to the targeting of these jobs for preventive actions in the workplace, in addition to the statistics of occupational diseases”, concludes Public Health France.
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