Surveillance of work-related carpal tunnel syndrome in Korea.
- Author:
Woo Chul JEONG
1
;
Ho Jang KWON
;
Mina HA
;
Sang Chul ROH
;
Beom Seon KWON
;
Jeong Gun HYUN
;
Seong Jae LEE
;
Jong Min LEE
;
Jeong Yi KWON
;
Jun Seong KIM
;
Nam Jong BAEK
;
Ho LEE
;
Kyng Woo LEE
;
Sam Kyu LEE
Author Information
1. Department of Occupational Medicine, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Work relatedness;
Carpal tunnel syndrome;
Surveillance
- MeSH:
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome*;
Epidemiologic Studies;
Female;
Fisheries;
Forestry;
Hand;
Humans;
Korea*;
Obesity;
Occupations;
Physical Examination;
Posture;
Public Health
- From:Korean Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
2004;16(1):37-47
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVES: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is one of the most important work related musculo-skeletal diseases in Korea. However, there are few epidemiologic studies on the work-related CTS (WR-CTS). This study aimed to investigate the epidemiologic characteristics of WR-CTS in Korea. METHODS: Data obtained from the"CTS Surveillance System". Physician case-reports in the surveillance were used to document patterns of WR-CTS by age, gender, occupation, sign, symptom, working history. RESULTS: Six hundred and seventy-two cases of WR-CTS were ascertained. of which 314 with complete information on occupational history were analyzed. It has been estimated that as many as 72% of all CTS cases are work-related. The highest proportion of WR-CTS was observed in 'elementary occupation workers', followed by 'skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers'. The distributions of WR-CTS cases were similar with respect to age, obesity, and past medical history. The proportion of WR-CTS was higher in females. There was no significant difference in physical examination findings between WR-CTS and non WR-CTS cases. Repetitive work and the inappropriate hand posture seemed to be the risks for WR-CTS. CONCLUSION: WR-CTS is a significant public health problem. The CTS surveillance system is quite useful to elucidate the characteristics of WR-CTS, but it remains of limited use in targeting specific industries and occupations for intervention.
