Risk of subacromial shoulder disorder in airport baggage handlers: combining duration and intensity of musculoskeletal shoulder loads

TY - JOUR

T1 - Risk of subacromial shoulder disorder in airport baggage handlers

T2 - combining duration and intensity of musculoskeletal shoulder loads

AU - Møller, Sanne Pagh

AU - Brauer, Charlotte

AU - Mikkelsen, Sigurd

AU - Alkjær, Tine

AU - Koblauch, Henrik

AU - Pedersen, Ellen Bøtker

AU - Simonsen, Erik B

AU - Thygesen, Lau Caspar

PY - 2018/4/3

Y1 - 2018/4/3

N2 - Musculoskeletal shoulder load among baggage handlers measured by combining duration and intensity based on biomechanical and epidemiological information may be a stronger predictor of subacromial shoulder disorders than baggage handler seniority. In 2012, a cohort of baggage handlers employed at Copenhagen Airport in 1990–2012, and a cohort of unskilled otherwise employed men answered a survey. Self-reported information on work tasks during employment in the airport in combination with work task specific biomechanically modelled forces in the shoulder joint was used to estimate shoulder load. Exposure measures were accumulated shoulder abduction moment, accumulated shoulder compression force, accumulated supraspinatus force and baggage handler seniority. The outcome was subacromial shoulder disorder registered in the Danish National Patient Register. When analyses were adjusted by all confounders except age, exposure variables showed close to significant associations with subacromial shoulder disorder. Results could not confirm our hypothesis that combined information on work task duration and shoulder load intensity was stronger associated with subacromial shoulder disorder than seniority. Practitioner Summary: In this study we sought to identify if the exposure to work-related musculoskeletal shoulder loading including duration and intensity among baggage handlers was associated with subacromial shoulder disorder. We found that there was an association but this was not stronger than that between baggage handler seniority and subacromial shoulder disorder.

AB - Musculoskeletal shoulder load among baggage handlers measured by combining duration and intensity based on biomechanical and epidemiological information may be a stronger predictor of subacromial shoulder disorders than baggage handler seniority. In 2012, a cohort of baggage handlers employed at Copenhagen Airport in 1990–2012, and a cohort of unskilled otherwise employed men answered a survey. Self-reported information on work tasks during employment in the airport in combination with work task specific biomechanically modelled forces in the shoulder joint was used to estimate shoulder load. Exposure measures were accumulated shoulder abduction moment, accumulated shoulder compression force, accumulated supraspinatus force and baggage handler seniority. The outcome was subacromial shoulder disorder registered in the Danish National Patient Register. When analyses were adjusted by all confounders except age, exposure variables showed close to significant associations with subacromial shoulder disorder. Results could not confirm our hypothesis that combined information on work task duration and shoulder load intensity was stronger associated with subacromial shoulder disorder than seniority. Practitioner Summary: In this study we sought to identify if the exposure to work-related musculoskeletal shoulder loading including duration and intensity among baggage handlers was associated with subacromial shoulder disorder. We found that there was an association but this was not stronger than that between baggage handler seniority and subacromial shoulder disorder.

KW - Journal Article

U2 - 10.1080/00140139.2017.1382721

DO - 10.1080/00140139.2017.1382721

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 28925318

SN - 0014-0139

VL - 61

SP - 576

EP - 587

JO - Ergonomics

JF - Ergonomics

IS - 4

ER -