Upper limb work-related disorders: Description of an Italian hospital based case study

The work-related biomechanical overload of the upper limb can cause an heterogeneous group of upper-limb musculoskeletal disorders. The objective of this paper was to analyse the characteristics of 539 patients observed at the Institute of Occupational Health of the Spedali Civili of Brescia, referred for upper limb work-related disorders from 1987 to 2006. Using the Hospital computerized database, individual variables including referral source, gender, age, life style, work sector, clinical and work history, final clinical diagnosis and work-relatedness evaluation were retrieved and analysed. The results of this survey showed a significant increase of number of cases, especially from 1999 to 2006. Shoulder disorders showed a significant increase in the latest years of the observation period, while the other upper limb districts remained constant. The work sectors mostly affected were textile, construction, metalmechanical and food industry. The findings of this study indicates an increasing demand for clinical assessment of work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the upper limb. Therefore, it is important that a standardized diagnostic procedure is applied together with an accurate evaluation ofbiomechanical overload.