Systematic Review of the Role of Occupational Health and Safety Interventions in the Prevention of Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Symptoms, Signs, Disorders, Injuries, Claims and Lost Time

Abstract

It is difficult to make strong evidenced-based recommendations about what practitioners should do to prevent or manage upper extremity MSDs. There is a paucity of high quality OHS interventions evaluating upper extremity MSDs and none focused on traumatic injury outcomes or workplace mandated pre-placement screening exams. We recommend that worksites not engage in OHS activities that include only workstation adjustments. However, when combined with ergonomics training, there is limited evidence that workstation adjustments are beneficial. A practice to consider is using arm supports to reduce upper extremity MSDs.

Ergonomic chair intervention: Effect on chronic upper quadrant dysfunction, disability and productivity in female computer workers

“…Participant 1's chair was similar to the intervention chairs, but lacked full adjustability. The effect of arm rests on pain and symptoms has been shown in the review by Kennedy et al (2010) to have a positive influence on upper quadrant pain and symptoms. However, not all studies on the subject concur as some studies show no effect (Brewer et al 2006).…”

“…Studies into the effectiveness of ergonomic interventions for musculoskeletal symptoms evaluate combined interventions and rarely research the benefit of the chair alone (Brewer et al 2006, Kennedy et al 2010. A review by van Niekerk et al (2012) showed a trend supporting the use of ergonomic office chairs to reduce upper quadrant muscle activity as well as a reduction in the intensity of the symptoms, although the chair was not the sole intervention in some of the studies reviewed.…”

The “Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology” Journal Club Series: Highlights on Recent Papers in Musculoskeletal Disorders

“…According to a recent study by Van Eerd and coworkers [20], if no significant actions are undertaken by occupational health and safety practitioners, MSDs may become the leading cause of long absences from work and, even worse, cause permanent disabling effects. According to recent literature ( [21,22], several workplace interventions have been implemented so far. Unfortunately, only a few studies have demonstrated that such measures had sustainable and quantifiable positive effects on symptoms and disability outcomes, although none have shown negative effects.…”

The effect of workplace intervention on pain and sickness absence caused by upper-extremity musculoskeletal disorders

“…Moreover, work modification is effective in helping subjects with MSD return to work (15). Another recent review (16), focusing only on upper-extremity disorders, concluded that due to the low number of high-quality studies, it is difficult to make strong evidenced-based recommendations. However, the authors discouraged activities that would engage only workstation adjustments.…”

“…However, the authors discouraged activities that would engage only workstation adjustments. Some positive but limited evidence was found for ergonomics training combined with workstation adjustments (16).…”