ArticleOccupational and environmental medicine2025
Occupational biomechanical risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome surgery: a prospective cohort study on 203 866 Swedish male construction workers followed for 19 years.
Article in Occupational and environmental medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Power of Awareness: A Community-based Intervention for Improving Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Knowledge.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2026Article
- Carpal tunnel syndrome in systemic sclerosis: prevalence, clinical correlates, and diagnostic performance of ultrasound compared with nerve conduction studies.BMC rheumatology · 2026Article
- Exposure mixtures and the near future of improving our understanding of worker health.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo prospectively determine the association between occupational biomechanical exposures and the incidence of surgically treated carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in Swedish male construction workers.
methodsA cohort of 203 866 Swedish male construction workers who participated in a national occupational health surveillance programme between 1971 and 1993 were followed for CTS surgery between 2001 and 2019. Age, height, weight, smoking status and construction trade were obtained from programme records. CTS surgery cases were defined using the diagnostic code for CTS and surgical procedure code for peripheral median nerve decompression in the Swedish National Patient Register. Biomechanical exposure estimates were assigned by trade from a job-exposure matrix. The relative risk (RR) of CTS surgery for each biomechanical exposure was assessed with multivariable negative binomial regression modelling.
resultsThe study included 3851 cases and the total incidence rate of CTS surgery was 137.6 cases per 100 000 person-years. Associations were found for upper extremity load (RR 2.6; 95% CI 2.2 to 3.0), repetitive wrist flexion and extension (RR 2.6; 95% CI 2.2 to 3.0), full wrist extension (RR 2.3; 95% CI 1.9 to 2.6), power grip (RR 2.5; 95% CI 2.2 to 2.9), pinch grip (RR 2.0; 95% CI 1.7 to 2.4), handheld tool use (RR 2.3; 95% CI 2.0 to 2.7) and hand-arm vibration exposure (RR 2.3; 95% CI 1.9 to 2.7).
conclusionsOccupational upper extremity load and postural exposures were associated with increased risk for surgical treatment for CTS in this large construction worker cohort. Preventive actions and consideration of occupation on assessment are warranted.
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