Musculoskeletal complaints, functional capacity, personality and psychosocial factors

Objectives: The aim of the research was to study the association between ps ychosocial and personality factors, and neck and wrist-hand musculoskeletal complaints, taking account of the occupational factors of force, posture a nd repetitiveness, and nonoccupational risk factors such as sport, hobbies, medical history. Methods: During personal interviews 133 women from seven different companies, working at constraining workplaces (very repetitive wo rk), answered several questionnaires. These concerned: personal characteris tics and history; work characteristics; psychosocial factors (perception an d appreciation of the work situation, satisfaction at work, stress symptoms , Karasek questionnaire) and personality factors (neuroticism, conscientiou sness, type-A behavior). They also undertook functional and psychomotor tes ts (wrist angles, grip strength and a dexterity test). Logistic regression models were calculated. Results: Wrist-hand complaints appear to be associa ted with some personal characteristics (smoking habits, fewer hobbies), wor k constraints (fewer breaks, heavy lifting efforts) and some personality (i ntroversion) and psychosocial factors (worse appreciation of work). Neck co mplaints are also associated with some personal characteristics (young peop le, small, bad health, hormonal problems, fewer hobbies), some personality (urgency of time) and psychosocial factors (constraints as seen by the supe rvisor). Conclusion: The study confirms the multifactorial character of the musculoskeletal disorders and underlines the need for a global ergonomic a pproach to work situations, taking into account all their physical, psychol ogical and social components.