Prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome among dairy parlor workers

Abstract

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and median mononeuropathy among dairy workers. METHODS Sixty-six dairy parlor workers and 58 non-parlor workers at dairies in Texas, New Mexico and Colorado participated in structured interviews regarding hand symptoms and nerve conduction studies (NCS). A case definition of CTS was based on the presence of characteristic CTS symptoms and an abnormal median mononeuropathy. RESULTS The prevalence of CTS among the dairy parlor workers was 16.9% (n=11) and 3.6% (n=2) among non-parlor workers. The difference was found to be statistically significant (p<0.05) with an odds ratio of 5.3, CI (1.1-25.5). CONCLUSIONS Dairy parlor workers are exposed to highly repetitive and excessive hand and wrist postures combined with high muscle forces increasing the risk of developing CTS. Work tasks in dairy parlor need additional study to identify engineering as well as administrative controls to reduce CTS risk.