Ono Y, Lagerström M, Hagberg M, Lindén A, Malker B, et al.
Occupational and environmental medicine. Date of publication 1995 Oct 1;volume 52(10):686-93.
1. Occup Environ Med. 1995 Oct;52(10):686-93. doi: 10.1136/oem.52.10.686.
Reports of work related musculoskeletal injury among home care service workers
compared with nursery school workers and the general population of employed
women in Sweden.
Ono Y(1), Lagerström M, Hagberg M, Lindén A, Malker B.
Author information:
(1)National Institute of Occupational Health, Division of Work and Environmental
Physiology, Solna, Sweden.
OBJECTIVES: To describe the nationwide occurrence of work related
musculoskeletal injuries among all home care service workers in Sweden, and to
identify relative risks and risk factors of the injuries.
METHODS: The study was based on work related injuries reported to the Swedish
occupational injury information system in 1990-1. The work related
musculoskeletal injuries were divided into overexertion accidents and
musculoskeletal diseases. The incidence of the injuries in female home care
service workers was compared with those in nursery school workers and all other
employed women in Sweden.
RESULTS: In home care service workers, the annual incidence of injury from
overexertion accidents and musculoskeletal diseases were 19.2 and 15.1 per 1000
workers, respectively, which was higher than those in nursery school workers and
all employed women in Sweden. For five injury locations including the back, all
the age standardised relative risks (SRR) of overexertion accidents exceeded
4.0, and most of those for musculoskeletal diseases were 1.5 or more in home
care service workers compared with all other employed women in Sweden. Total
duration of sick leave due to overexertion accidents was 7.7 times, and
musculoskeletal diseases 3.5 times, longer than in nursery school workers.
National loss due to sick leave resulting from only musculoskeletal injuries in
home care service workers was about 8.2% of the total work related sick leave in
all employed women in Sweden, although the number of home care service workers
represented only some 5% of this population. Lifting other people was most
frequently reported as the main risk cause of overexertion accidents in both
kinds of workers.
CONCLUSIONS: The results support the hypothesis that home care service workers
have higher annual injury incidence of musculoskeletal injuries than nursery
school workers due to physically stressful tasks that are far less common in
nursery school workers.
DOI: 10.1136/oem.52.10.686
PMCID: PMC1128335
PMID: 7489060 [Indexed for MEDLINE]
