Syndrome of Carpal Tunnel in Women Working in Electric Mounting Plants

Overview

The authors directed their attention to the problems of the carpal tunnel syndrome in two similar electric mounting plants andexamined a total of 317 women. A subgroup of 210 women at the average age of 40.3 (± 8.9) years worked in occupations meetingthe criteria of excessive and unilateral load for upper extremities, their average exposure being 17.7 (± 10.2) years. The remaining107 manual female workers at the average age of 36.5 (± 10.6) years were placed in the control group. The average duration oftheir occupation in the electric mounting plants was 15.6 (± 10.7) years. The authors have shown statistically significantly morefrequent incidence of the carpal tunnel syndrome (P = 0.0016) in the group exposed to excessive and unilateral load. A possiblerole of other factors participating in the development of the syndrome was also suggested: higher age, duration of exposure, obesityand partly also hormonal changes. The authors suggest that these factors should be considered as relative contraindications inpersonal placement to jobs representing the risk of excessive and unilateral load of upper extremities (repetitive strain injury).

Key words:
carpal tunnel syndrome, risk factors