Women at Least Twice as Likely To Get Some Musculoskeletal Disorders

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Women at Least Twice as Likely To Get Some Musculoskeletal Disorders

Women are at least twice as likely as men to develop some musculoskeletal

disorders of the upper body. That¹s the finding of scientists who

re-analyzed data from 56 previous studies on the subject.

Newswise ‹ Women are at least twice as likely as men to develop some

musculoskeletal disorders of the upper body.

That¹s the finding of scientists at Ohio State University who re-analyzed

data from 56 previous studies on the subject.

This new work, though it did not yield specific incidence rates for

different disorders, gives researchers a critical baseline for comparing

gender differences in the prevalence of disorders of the neck, shoulders,

arms, and hands.

Until now, some researchers suspected that women only appear to have a

higher incidence of these disorders because they are more likely than men to

admit that they are in pain and get treatment. Others thought the gender

difference was due to a greater exposure to certain risk factors for women.

Delia Treaster, a former doctoral student at Ohio State, conducted this

research with Deborah Burr, assistant professor of epidemiology and

biometrics. They performed a statistical analysis of previous studies to

remove factors that could have skewed the results either way. They described

their findings in a recent issue of the journal Ergonomics.

When they accounted for factors such as a person¹s age, occupation, and

whether the person reported their disorder themselves or whether it was

clinically diagnosed, they were surprised to find that the gender difference

still remained.

³Any way you slice the data, women have a significantly higher prevalence ­-

anywhere from two to ten, even eleven times higher than men -- for many of

these disorders,² Treaster said. ³The question now is, why? Is it

biomechanical, physiological, psychological, or what? Most likely, it is due

to a combination of factors.²

Burr cautioned women to be aware that they could develop these disorders,

especially as they grow older. ³Women should talk to their doctors about it,

and doctors should look out for it,² she said.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) affect the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and

joints. One 1998 study found that 15 percent of the American working

population suffered one or more MSDs, and that this rate could increase to

18 percent within the next 30 years.

Researchers believe that doing highly repetitive or physically stressful

work can cause MSDs. There can be psychological and social factors as well.

Marras, a professor of industrial, welding, and systems engineering

and director of the Biodynamics Laboratory at Ohio State, had previously

linked high performance pressure and job dissatisfaction to low back pain,

the most common MSD.

This latest study focused on upper-body disorders other than back pain, the

highest-profile of which is carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). For sufferers of

CTS, a nerve in the wrist becomes irritated, causing pain and numbness in

the hands.

As the Ohio State scientists reviewed studies from 13 countries, they found

much data concerning CTS in the United States, while most European studies

focused on shoulder and neck disorders.

³Now the pendulum is swinging the other way -- neck and shoulder pain is

becoming a hot issue here, and European scientists are becoming interested

in carpal tunnel,² Treaster said.

MSDs can be difficult to diagnose, she added. Doctors can perform clinical

tests for CTS, but for neck and shoulder disorders ³all you have to go on is

whether someone is in pain, and pain is so subjective.²

The conventional wisdom is that men do physically demanding work such as

heavy lifting that makes them more susceptible to back problems, while women

do the fine, repetitive work that can lead to neck, shoulder, and wrist

problems. But this new study showed that women were more likely than men to

develop MSDs even when they have the same job.

To Treaster, the study underscores the need to prevent MSDs from happening

in the first place. One way to do that is through better workplace design,

equipment selection, and work practices.

³This is yet another gender difference that will have to be taken into

account,² she said.

Treaster is a professional ergonomist currently helping the United States

Post Office implement the ergonomics in its distribution centers. Burr has

no immediate plans to continue this research, though she says she might like

to further analyze the data and compute more detailed incidence rates for

individual disorders.