MILKING IS A HIGH-RISK JOB FOR YOUNG FEMALES

The prevalence of and the impact of selected factors on self-reported musculoskeletal complaints in Swedish female milkers with special refe rence to symptoms in the upper extremities were investigated using dat a from mail-in surveys. An agricultural study group was formed of thre e subgroups: 161 active milkers, 108 non-milkers and 62 ex-milkers, wo men who had been milkers earlier but were no longer doing that kind of work. In the course of the analysis these subgroups were compared, wi th each other and also, separately or in combinations, with a non-agri cultural population consisting of 166 nursing assistants. Problems in the upper extremities were significantly more common in the agricultur al group than in the non-agricultural group, Milkers ran a higher risk of developing symptoms in the wrists and hands than non-milking women . Symptoms such as numbness, coldness in the wrists and white fingers were more common in all agricultural subgroups than in the non-agricul tural group, Numbness and white fingers mere related to vibration expo sure in the ex-milker and the non-milker groups but not in the milker group. Psychosocial factors such as occupational well-being were not r elated to the occurrence of symptoms, Milking in a modernized barn gav e fewer problems in elbows than milking in a traditional barn, Milkers who had received ergonomic instruction on how to work in order to red uce muscle stress had fewer problems in the elbow region than those wh o had received no such information.