Occupational upper-extremity-related disability: demographic, physical, and psychosocial factors

Occupational upper-extremity disorders have been associated with prolonged pain and work disability. Using the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency database, the present case-control studies (n = 434 and n = 342) investigated the contribution of demographic, physical, occupational psychosocial, and individual psychosocial factors to work disability in soldiers with upper-extremity disorders. Age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.11), rank (private E-2: OR = 3.79; private first class: OR = 4.39; specialist or corporal: OR = 2.17), ethnic group (white: OR = 1.54), and occupational stress ("often": OR = 2.46) were found to predict disability. The results highlight the importance of occupational stress as a predictor of disability and the potential utility of addressing this factor in the development of empirically based disability prevention strategies. This investigation also emphasizes the need for research that delineates the biobehavioral mechanisms linking occupational stress to prolonged symptoms and subsequent work disability.