Neck and upper extremity problems in car assembly workers. A comparison of subjective complaints, work satisfaction, physical examination and gender

This study includes 564 car assembly workers, 440 men and 124 women. Questionnaires, including work satisfaction, orthopaedic examination and exposure evaluation were performed. Women had more neck-myalgia and more physical signs from the hands, especially nerve related problems and tendinitis compared to men. Impingement of the shoulder was equally prevalent among women and men, doing the same work. Women showed a higher work satisfaction than men. Stress at work correlated both to subjective complaints from all locations in the upper half of the body and to findings at the physical examination. A logistic regression analysis showed that subjective complaints from the neck, shoulders and feet correlated to less good work satisfaction, while work dissatisfaction was not correlated to any of the physical signs. Those having station-bound work showed less good relations to foremen/workmates and better to the work in comparison with the workstations at the assembly line. The questionnaire gave around 50% higher prevalence of pain from different body areas, when compared to the physical examination. The result represent 23 workstations, constituting the assembly line. A great variation of symptoms and signs was found, significantly so for subjective pain in the wrists/hands ( p < 0.02), objective pain in the cervical spine ( p < 0.01) and shoulder impingement ( p < 0.01). Some specific ergonomic problems were found. A summary for each workstation was presented to the factory and some changes were accomplished. Relevance to industry The quality of the production is, among other things, depending on healthy workers, high work satisfaction, low workforce turnover, etc. This study shows how the combination of questionnaires, including work satisfaction, physical examination and exposure evaluation can give possibilities to specific intervention.