CARPAL-TUNNEL SYNDROME AMONG GROCERY STORE WORKERS

The California Department of Health Services evaluated carpal tunnel s yndrome (CTS), a median nerve entrapment condition associated with for ceful and repetitive wrist motion, among grocery store workers at a la rge California supermarket where a CTS cluster had been reported. Forc eful and repetitive wrist motion was measured, in three exposure level s, through a job classification scheme based upon type of work tasks a nd average time per week spent performing these tasks. A medical quest ionnaire and measurements of median sensory nerve conduction were used to measure CTS. CTS prevalence was 23% based upon a sample of 56 part icipants drawn from a workforce of 69 employees. A relative risk of 8. 3 (95% confidence interval 2.6-26.4) for a history of CTS-like symptom s between the high and low exposure level groups held up after adjustm ent for the potential confounders of age, sex, alcohol consumption, an d high-risk medical history. It was concluded that the basic principle s of good ergonomic design should be used to prevent or diminish the r isk of musculoskeletal injury in the workplace. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, I nc.