Jc. Rosecrance et al., ACTIVE SURVEILLANCE FOR THE CONTROL OF CUMULATIVE TRAUMA DISORDERS - A WORKING MODEL IN THE NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY, The Journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapy, 19(5), 1994, pp. 267-276
Health and risk factor surveillance is a critical aspect of an effecti
ve ergonomics process. Physical therapists are becoming increasingly i
nvolved in many components of the ergonomics process, including health
and risk factor surveillance. The purpose of this study was to develo
p and implement a multistaged active surveillance program for the mana
gement and control of cumulative trauma disorders. The surveillance pr
ogram was established at three newspaper companies consisting of 1, 15
0 employees. This study focused on the first three stages of the multi
stage surveillance model, which incorporates the use of symptom and jo
b factor questionnaires, specific anatomical surveys, and clinical det
ection tests. The results of the study indicated that 1) musculoskelet
al symptoms in the back, neck, and hands accounted for the majority of
reported missed work among the newspaper workers; 2) production worke
rs had a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms than office wor
kers; and 3) the prevalence of probable carpal tunnel syndrome among t
he newspaper workers was 1.5%.