[Epidemiology of musculoskeletal disorders caused by biomechanical overload (WMSDs)]

The link between occupation and musculo-skeletal disorders has been focused on in numerous research projects, ranging from those simply observing the different pathological findings reported among workers performing particular tasks, down to the latest studies actually quantifying the "exposure" of workers to physical and psycho-social stimuli, Recently, Hagberg et al (11) carried out a critical review of the literature concerning the upper limbs. For some disorders and certain tissues, the authors reported that specific types of work-related exposure are associated with the development of musculo-skeletal pathologies, and that the relative risks for certain types of occupational exposure can be extremely high. This has been proven in relation to tendinitis of the shoulder and hand-wrist, carpal tunnel syndrome, and tense neck syndrome, as well as several localised aspecific musculo-skeletal symptoms, such as pain. For other pathologies, the study reported contradictory results. This is the case for lateral epicondylitis, narrow chest syndrome and cervical radiculopathy. Associations have moreover been observed between several groups of disorders and certain psycho-social factors (e.g. workload, degree of discretionality).