Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Original Article

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.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

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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Case Report

A case of mental ill health caused by job stress after job reallocation: Jong Min Woo, Gyung Mee Kim, Seong Ah Kim; Korean Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2003;15(2):205-212. Published online June 30, 2003; DOI: https://doi.org/10.35371/kjoem.2003.15.2.205

Abstract PDF

BACKGROUND
Recently, social concern about occupational stress and disputes, which are surrounded with judgements of work relatedness for various psychiatric sequels, is increasing. OBJECTIVE: We present a case of work-related illness judgement in which panic disorder and adjustment disorder with conversion symptoms were associated with work stress due to job reallocation.
METHODS
We performed psychiatric assessment including mental status examination and neuropsychological test batteries. We also assessed job stress profiles using the Korean version of the Occupational Stress Inventory(K-OSI).
RESULTS
The patient showed no specific psychological or physical problems and had previously demonstrated suitable coping skills. However, the patients case, who was sensitive to emotional stress, suffered chronic stress symptoms after a role change from a car mechanic to office manager which required continuous interaction with customers and a strong emotional burden. Panic attack and conversion symptoms were judged to be associated with disharmony between individual characteristics and environmental needs.
CONCLUSION
It is noteworthy that this is the first reported case considered as a psychiatric illness related with psychological work stress. A further study will be attempted to assign standards of judgment for similar cases through systematic source collection and tool development.

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Occupational Psychiatric Disorders in Korea
Kyeong-Sook Choi, Seong-Kyu Kang
Journal of Korean Medical Science.2010; 25(Suppl): S87. CrossRef

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