Content area
Full Text
What this paper adds
A recent randomised controlled trial showed that a work style intervention was effective in reducing pain but a work style plus physical activity intervention was not.
However, knowledge about the cost-effectiveness of interventions to manage neck and upper limb symptoms is missing.
A work style intervention does not seem to be cost-effective for improving recovery from neck and upper limb symptoms but does seem to be cost-effective for reducing pain intensity.
Combining a work style intervention with a lifestyle physical activity intervention does not seem to be cost-effective.
Before companies can be advised to implement a work style intervention, research is needed to investigate whether or not the observed pain reductions are clinically relevant and which specific risk groups may benefit most from a work style intervention.
Neck and upper limb symptoms are frequently reported by computer workers. In 2002, 28% of the general Dutch working population had experienced pain or stiffness in the neck, shoulder, arms, hands or wrists in the previous 12 months. 1 In Europe, the prevalence of work-related neck/shoulder pain was 25% and 15% for work-related arm pain. 2 In the Netherlands, the total annual costs of neck and upper limb symptoms due to decreased productivity (sick leave and chronic disability) and medical costs were recently estimated at [euro]2.1 billion. 3 Recent conservative estimates of the annual costs of all musculoskeletal disorders in the USA ranged from $45 to $54 billion. 4 So, work-related neck and upper limb symptoms are not only a medical but also a huge socio-economic problem worldwide.
Neck and upper limb symptoms have a multi-factorial aetiology. Previous studies have shown that individual factors such as gender 5 and comorbidity, 6 physical factors such as self-reported duration of mouse use, 7 and organisational factors such as high work demands and little control, 8 are associated with neck and upper limb symptoms. Despite this multi-factorial origin, most intervention studies aiming to reduce neck and upper limb symptoms focused only on the physical components of the workplace. 9-12 In recent years attention has shifted from single component interventions to multi-component interventions or 'integrative' interventions that include both physical and psychosocial components. 13 Also, more attention has been paid to the concept of work style, which influences...