DescritoresLesões musculo-esqueléticas. Índice de capacidade para o trabalho. Dor crônica. Trabalhadores industriais. Keywords

OBJECTIVE:To translate the Need for Recovery Scale (NFR) into Brazilian Portuguese and culturally adapt it and assess the stability, internal consistency and convergent validity of the Brazilian scale among industrial workers. METHODS:The translation process followed the guidelines for cultural adaptation of questionnaires including the steps of translation, synthesis, back translation, expert committee review, and pre-testing. The Brazilian Portuguese NFR, fi nal version (Br-NFR) was assessed for stability (n=52) and internal consistency (n=192) and for convergent validity through simultaneous assessment with other instruments: the Borg Scale (n=59); the Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire (n=57) and 3 subscales of the SF-36 (n=56). RESULTS:Stability and internal consistency met the criterion for a reliable measure (ICC=0.80 and Cronbach's alpha =0.87, respectively). The convergent validity between Br-NFR and other instruments also showed good results: Borg Scale (r= 0.64); Chalder Questionnaire (r= 0.67); SF-36 subscales: vitality (r= -0.84), physical functioning (r= -0.54), and role-physical (r= -0.47). CONCLUSIONS:The Br-NFR proved to be a reliable instrument to evaluate work-related fatigue symptoms in industrial workers. Furthermore, it showed signifi cant and good correlations with well-established instruments such as the Borg Scale, the Chalder Questionnaire and SF-36 vitality subscale, supporting the validity of the Br-NFR.

O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar, comparativamente, a qualidade de vida e a capacidade de trabalho de trabalhadores industriais, por meio dos índices de capacidade para o trabalho e de qualidade de vida. Participaram do estudo 100 trabalhadores de um setor noturno de linha de produção. Foram aplicadas traduções autorizadas do Índice de Capacidade para o Trabalho e o Instrumento Abreviado de Qualidade de Vida da Organização Mundial de Saúde. Os resultados evidenciam associação entre a capacidade para o trabalho e todo o conjunto dos domínios de qualidade de vida, apresentando melhor associação com o domínio Físico (r =0,61). Além disso, os homens jovens obtiveram valores maiores para Capacidade de Trabalho (p =0,016), enquanto que as mulheres com idade entre 30-39 anos apresentaram os piores índices de qualidade de vida (p =0,027), especialmente para os domínios Relações Sociais e Ambiente. Reforça-se, assim, a necessidade de diretrizes preventivas específicas para o aprimoramento dos aspectos ligados ao domínio Físico tanto no ambiente de trabalho como fora dele, uma vez que essa interação potencializa os efeitos no aspecto físico em ambas as esferas.

Objective To evaluate the effect of acupuncture on rehabilitation of motor function, reduction in lymphoedema and improvement in perceived heaviness and tightness in the arms of women who had undergone breast cancer surgery. Subjects and Methods Twenty nine women who had had mastectomy or segmentectomy with axillary dissection, presenting with lymphoedema and/or a decrease in movement amplitude of the upper limb ipsilateral to surgery were studied. The patients underwent 24 acupuncture sessions once a week from February to December 2004. The movement amplitude of shoulder flexion and abduction and circumferential measurements of the arm, forearm and wrist were evaluated before and after one, three and six months of treatment. Statistical analysis was performed by Friedman's test. Results Significant improvements in range of movement of shoulder flexion and abduction (P<0.001), degree of lymphoedema (P=0.016), and sense of heaviness and tightening (P<0.001) in the affected limb after six months of therapy were observed. For circumferential measurements of the arm, forearm and wrist, no significant improvement between the different periods of treatment was observed. Conclusions Acupuncture in rehabilitation after breast cancer surgery was shown to be associated with improvements in movement amplitude of the shoulder, symptoms of heaviness and tightness in the arm, and the degree of lymphoedema. However, controlled trials should be performed to ascertain whether the results were due to the natural history of the complaint or the acupuncture treatment. KeywordsBreast cancer, lymphoedema, range of movement, acupuncture. IntroductionBreast cancer has been considered the second most frequent female cancer and is the major cause of death due to cancer among Brazilian women.

Background: Work conditions can overload a worker's capabilities and result in health complaints. The early identification of hazardous

Introduction: This prospective study describes the work ability and quality of life in workers returning from longterm sick leave (>6 months) who remained at work full time for at least 36 months.

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In order to achieve better postures and decrease musculoskeletal risks adequate design of hand/box couplings for manual materials handling (MMH) are still needed. No studies evaluating upper limb movement thorough direct measurements during box handling in workplace were identified in the literature. In this study we describe the types of grip and movements adopted by ten workers when handling redesigned boxes with cutout handles between different heights on industrial pallets. The new handles were used by 90% of the workers through different types of grip. Electrogoniometric measurements showed relatively safe forearm and wrist movements, although elbow inadequate range of movement was recorded. Despite the good acceptance of the cutout by workers, the new design requires extra internal space in the boxes reducing applications for this alternative of box.