[Neuromuscular assessment of the elderly worker: the European NEW project]

Neuromuscular problems reduce working ability of aging workers, and increase cases of work loss and accidents. For this reason, elderly people throughout Europe are forced into early retirement, and fail to be self-supporting. There is a need to identify and monitor work related neuromuscular disorders in order to reduce their consequences by monitoring the most vulnerable individuals, identify the determinants of neuromuscular aging related to occupational conditions, prevent pathologies and their evolution. Preliminary results show the possibility of identification of neuromuscular problems through non invasive techniques, some of which, recently developed within the SENIAM and PROCID Concerted Actions, can provide quantitative indices of neuromuscular performance. Substantial field tests and training initiatives are required to demonstrate if these techniques can be used outside the research labs, if there may be a European market in the fields of ergonomics and occupational health, and if they can be routinely used with standardized methodology to monitor the relationship between occupational and neuromuscular system conditions in the working environment. The objective of the European Project Neuromuscular assessment in the Elderly Worker (NEW) is to answer these questions.