Sex Differences in Task Distribution and Task Exposures among Danish House Painters: An Observational Study Combining Questionnaire Data with Biomechanical Measurements

Abstract

ObjectivesSex differences in occupational biomechanical exposures may be part of the explanation why musculoskeletal complaints and disorders tend to be more common among women than among men. We aimed to determine possible sex differences in task distribution and task-specific postures and movements of the upper extremities among Danish house painters, and to establish sex-specific task exposure matrices.MethodsTo obtain task distributions, we sent out a questionnaire to all members of the Painters' Union in Denmark (N = 9364), of whom 53% responded. Respondents reported their task distributions in a typical week. To obtain task exposures, postures and movements were measured in 25 male and 25 female house painters for one whole working day per person. We used goniometers on the wrists, and inclinometers on the forehead and the upper arms. Participants filled in a logbook allowing task-specific exposures to be identified. Percentiles and % time with non-neutral postures were used to characterise postures. Velocity, range of motion, repetitiveness, and variation were used as measures of movement. Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel statistics and unpaired double-sided t-tests with post-hoc Bonferroni correction were used to evaluate sex differences.ResultsStatistically significant (p<0.05) sex differences were revealed in task proportions, but the proportions differed by less than 4%. For task exposures, no statistically significant sex differences were found.ConclusionsOnly minor sex differences were found in task distribution and task exposures regarding postures and movements among Danish house painters. Sex-specific task exposure matrices were established.

Exposure–response relationships between movements and postures of the wrist and carpal tunnel syndrome among male and female house painters: a retrospective cohort study

“…If so, results on sex differences in the occurrence of WMSDs could be biased by inaccurate exposure assessment. In a previous study of Danish house painters,17 we found only minor sex differences in task distributions and task-specific movements and postures of the wrists. This led us to conclude that house painters in Denmark is a profession suitable for examining if women are more biologically vulnerable than men are at the assumed same level of exposure.…”

“…If so, we think that CTS cases would probably report a higher proportion of tasks with high force requirements. Analyses comparing the sex-specific task distributions for all questionnaire responders with the subgroup of CTS cases revealed that male cases primarily did more ‘spraying’ and ‘other tasks’ and less ‘hanging wallpaper’ and had fewer pauses 17. Female cases reported more ‘full levelling’ and ‘hanging wallpaper’ and less ‘driving’.…”

“…Details have been described in a separate paper 17. Task distributions were constructed by having the questionnaire respondents divide their working hours in a typical week between the 12 most common painting tasks (eg, painting with a brush, painting with a roll, spraying, levelling, sanding, covering, driving, other tasks).…”

“…Sex-specific TEMs of movements and postures of the upper extremity were constructed using goniometry (wrists) and inclinometry (shoulders, neck and forehead) to measure 50 full working days equally distributed between male and female house painters. During the measurements, a log-book clearly stating the time spent on each task was filled out by the participants 17. Exposure measures from the TEMs were weighted by the self-reported task distributions to obtain individual estimates of exposure intensity for the wrist in terms of median velocity of flexion/extension of the wrist (wrist velocity) (°/s), mean power frequency (MPF) (Hz) of wrist movements as a measure of repetition, and non-neutral wrist postures as a combined measure of extreme postures of flexion/extension and radial/ulnar deviation of the wrist, defined as the %time with angles exceeding 45° flexion/extension or 20° ulnar/radial deviation 17…”

Upper arm elevation and repetitive shoulder movements: a general population job exposure matrix based on expert ratings and technical measurements

“…To obtain as many technical measurements as possible, the technical measurement programme was coordinated with a corresponding technical programme in a Danish study of the wrist (goniometry),18 21 so that inclinometer and goniometer measurements were performed simultaneously. In addition to the Danish programme that covered 23 job groups, we included previous technical measurement data for 13 job groups collected by the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund, Sweden.…”