Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Jong Min Lee

4 Articles

Surveillance of work-related carpal tunnel syndrome in Korea: Woo Chul Jeong, Ho Jang Kwon, Mina Ha, Sang Chul Roh, Beom Seon Kwon, Jeong Gun Hyun, Seong Jae Lee, Jong Min Lee, Jeong Yi Kwon, Jun Seong Kim, Nam Jong Baek, Ho Lee, Kyng Woo Lee, Sam Kyu Lee; Korean Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2004;16(1):37-47. Published online March 31, 2004; DOI: https://doi.org/10.35371/kjoem.2004.16.1.37

OBJECTIVES
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is one of the most important work related musculo-skeletal diseases in Korea. However, there are few epidemiologic studies on the work-related CTS (WR-CTS). This study aimed to investigate the epidemiologic characteristics of WR-CTS in Korea.
METHODS
Data obtained from the"CTS Surveillance System". Physician case-reports in the surveillance were used to document patterns of WR-CTS by age, gender, occupation, sign, symptom, working history.
RESULTS
Six hundred and seventy-two cases of WR-CTS were ascertained. of which 314 with complete information on occupational history were analyzed. It has been estimated that as many as 72% of all CTS cases are work-related. The highest proportion of WR-CTS was observed in 'elementary occupation workers', followed by 'skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers'. The distributions of WR-CTS cases were similar with respect to age, obesity, and past medical history. The proportion of WR-CTS was higher in females. There was no significant difference in physical examination findings between WR-CTS and non WR-CTS cases. Repetitive work and the inappropriate hand posture seemed to be the risks for WR-CTS.
CONCLUSION
WR-CTS is a significant public health problem. The CTS surveillance system is quite useful to elucidate the characteristics of WR-CTS, but it remains of limited use in targeting specific industries and occupations for intervention.

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Distribution of age, gender, and occupation among individuals with carpal tunnel syndrome based on the National Health Insurance data and National Employment Insurance data
Il-Ho Lee, Young-Ki Kim, Dong-Mug Kang, Se-Yeong Kim, In-Ah Kim, Eun-Mi Kim
Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.2019;[Epub] CrossRef
Work-relatedness of lung cancer by smoking and histologic type in Korea
Young-Il Lee, Sang-Gil Lee, Dong-Mug Kang, Jong-Eun Kim, Young-Ki Kim, Jong-Han Leem, Hwan-Cheol Kim
Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.2014;[Epub] CrossRef
Disease Prevalence and Mortality among Agricultural Workers in Korea
Won Jin Lee, Eun Shil Cha, Eun Kyeong Moon
Journal of Korean Medical Science.2010; 25(Suppl): S112. CrossRef

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Carpal Tunnel Configuration Measured by Ultrasonography as a Risk Factor of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Motor Part Manufacturing Workers: Duck Soo Kim, Hae Kwan Cheong, Hyun Sul Lim, Yong Wook Kwon, Jong Min Lee, Dae Hyun Cho, Dae Seob Choi; Korean Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2002;14(3):213-226. Published online September 30, 2002; DOI: https://doi.org/10.35371/kjoem.2002.14.3.213

Abstract PDF

OBJECTIVES
This study was conducted to evaluate individual susceptibility to carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) by ultrasonographic measurement of the carpal tunnel configuration in workers doing repetitive work.
METHODS
The study subjects consisted of 24 male and 11 female workers in a soundproof material manufacturing company in Gyeongju. We conducted a self-reported questionnaire survey, a physical examination and an electrodiagnostic study (EDS) in April 2000. After the examination, jobs were rearranged for workers with CTS. A follow up physical examination, EDS, and measurement of the carpal tunnel by ultrasonography was done six months later.
RESULTS
Of those studied, prevalence of CTS was 63.6/100 persons among women and 29.2/100 persons among men. Mean depth and width of wrist was shorter in those with CTS compareal to the controls (p<0.05). The risk of CTS was higher in workers whose carpal tunnel ratio (displacement/width) was 0.17 or higher (OR 7.13, 95 % confidence interval 1.18-43.1), and in workers whose carpal tunnel area was less than 300 mm2 (OR 8.00, 95 % confidence interval 1.18-68.5). Carpal tunnel depth and depth/width ratio had a positive correlation with motor latency of the median nerve and median-ulnar sensory latency difference (p<0.05), whereas the carpal tunnel width, displacement/depth ratio, and area (width X displacement) had a negative correlation with median nerve latencies after adjusting for gender. Workers who showed an improvement in the clinical stage of CTS after job rearrangement had a significantly lower carpal tunnel displacement/width ratio and displacement/depth ratio. They also had smaller upper carpal tunnel area ( width X displacement) and larger upper carpal tunnel area [(depth-displacement) X width] than the controls (p< 0.05 ).
CONCLUSIONS
Ultrasonographic measurement of the carpal tunnel is a good predictor of susceptibility and prognosis of CTS in workers doing repetivive work.

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The Health Effect of Hand Arm Transmitted Vibration
Jung-Wan Koo
Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea.2013; 32(4): 303. CrossRef
Changes in the Thickness of Median Nerves Due to Excessive Use of Smartphones
Yeon-Seop Lee, Hoe-Song Yang, Chan-Joo Jeong, Young-Dae Yoo, Gwang-Yun Jeong, Jin-Seon Moon, Min-Kung Kang, Seong-Woo Hong
Journal of Physical Therapy Science.2012; 24(12): 1259. CrossRef

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Cold Sensitization Occurring in a Worker of a Cold Storage Warehouse: Hyun Sul Lim, Kwan Lee, Jong Min Lee; Korean Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2002;14(2):204-212. Published online June 30, 2002; DOI: https://doi.org/10.35371/kjoem.2002.14.2.204

Abstract PDF: OBJECTIVES
The following is a report on a case of cold sensitization in a worker who served as a forklift truck driver in a cold storage warehouse for 5 years from 1996.
METHODS
We examined the patient's blood chemistry and infrared computerized thermographic measurements. We also reviewed the environmental temperatures at his workplace and interviewed other workers.
RESULTS
The worker was a 32-year-old male who had worked in a cold storage warehouse for 5 years (1996-2000). He complained of headaches, arthralgia, and slight dyspnea after 2 years work serving as a forklift truck driver in a cold storage facility. In the laboratory record of his blood and those of others, the C-reactive protein, rheumatoid facror, anti-nuclear antibody, cryoglobulin and other blood chemistries were all negative except that the anti-streptolysin O titer was reactive and alkaline phosphatase was also increased. The radiologic findings were normal. Using infrared computerized thermographic measurements, the patient's hands were at around 30 degrees C and below in the first infrared image and around 27 degrees C in the third image. Accordingly, he was diagnosed as having cold sensitization, which occurs in persons exposed to cold for long time, especially below freezing point.
CONCLUSIONS
We confirmed that the cold sensitization occurred in this patient as an occupational disease due to an exposure to cold. To prevent cold injury, we must modify work procedures, begin comprehensive medical surveillances, educate workers on risks of cold, and increase workers awareness of safety regulations in the workplace.

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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Meat-processing Workers: Jong Min Lee, Soo Keun Kim, Jong Min Kim; Korean Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 1999;11(3):407-414. Published online September 30, 1999; DOI: https://doi.org/10.35371/kjoem.1999.11.3.407

Abstract PDF

OBJECTIVES
This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and status of work-related carpal tunnel syndrome in meat-processing workers and to assess the usefulness of diagnostic criteria using symptoms, physical findings and electrodiagnostic bests.
METHODS
The subjects were 34 female workers with average age of 43.1 +/-8.5 years and clinical studios including history taking for symtoms, physical examination and electrodiagnostic bests were conducted.
RESULTS
Using a case definition of positive symptoms and electrodiagnostic abnormalities, 8 workers were diagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome and the prevalence was 23.5%. 5 workers(14.7%) had symptoms but no electrodiagnostic abnormalities and 2 workers (5.9%) had only electrodiagnostic abnormalitites. 19 workers(55.9%) had no symptoms and no electrodiagnostic abnormalities. There were no statistically significant differences in the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome between high repetitive work group and low repetitive work group among the workers. Age and daily working hours wart related to the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome at 0.10 significant level(p-value=0.10).
CONCLUSIONS
The combination of symptoms and night symptoms or symptoms and physical findings is a useful diagnostic criteria for screening of work-related carpal tunnel syndrome when electrodiagnostic test or a trained physician for physical examination are not available in that sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 0.63, 0.85, 0.56 and 0.88, respectively.

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Distribution of age, gender, and occupation among individuals with carpal tunnel syndrome based on the National Health Insurance data and National Employment Insurance data
Il-Ho Lee, Young-Ki Kim, Dong-Mug Kang, Se-Yeong Kim, In-Ah Kim, Eun-Mi Kim
Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.2019;[Epub] CrossRef
Prevalence and Related Characteristics of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Among Orchardists in the Gyeongsangnam-do Region
Ho-Yeon Jung, Min Sik Kong, Seung Hun Lee, Chang Han Lee, Min-Kyun Oh, Eun Shin Lee, Heesuk Shin, Chul Ho Yoon
Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine.2016; 40(5): 902. CrossRef
Evaluation of Nerve Conduction Study Result in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome before and after operation in eastern area of Jeonnam
Choong-Won Seo, Chul-Seung Kim
Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society.2012; 13(11): 5305. CrossRef

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