Korean J Occup Environ Med.
2004 Mar;16(1):37-47.
Surveillance of work-related carpal tunnel syndrome in Korea
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Occupational Medicine, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Korea.
- 2Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Korea. hojang@dku.edu
- 3Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Korea.
- 4Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, College of Medicine, Dongkook Univeristy, Korea.
- 5Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Korea.
- 6Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul national University, Korea.
- 7Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, College of Medicine, Soonchunhayng University, Korea.
- 8Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, College of Medicine, Donga University, Korea.
- 9Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, College of Medicine, Jeonnam National University, Korea.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is one of the most important work related musculo-skeletal diseases in Korea. However, there are few epidemiologic studies on the work-related CTS (WR-CTS). This study aimed to investigate the epidemiologic characteristics of WR-CTS in Korea.
METHODS
Data obtained from the"CTS Surveillance System". Physician case-reports in the surveillance were used to document patterns of WR-CTS by age, gender, occupation, sign, symptom, working history.
RESULTS
Six hundred and seventy-two cases of WR-CTS were ascertained. of which 314 with complete information on occupational history were analyzed. It has been estimated that as many as 72% of all CTS cases are work-related. The highest proportion of WR-CTS was observed in 'elementary occupation workers', followed by 'skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers'. The distributions of WR-CTS cases were similar with respect to age, obesity, and past medical history. The proportion of WR-CTS was higher in females. There was no significant difference in physical examination findings between WR-CTS and non WR-CTS cases. Repetitive work and the inappropriate hand posture seemed to be the risks for WR-CTS.
CONCLUSION
WR-CTS is a significant public health problem. The CTS surveillance system is quite useful to elucidate the characteristics of WR-CTS, but it remains of limited use in targeting specific industries and occupations for intervention.
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