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Table 3 Estimated mean prevalence of symptoms in the last 7 days by exposure to MHO

From: Risk assessment of manual handling operations at work with the key indicator method (KIM-MHO) — determination of criterion validity regarding the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms and clinical conditions within a cross-sectional study

Body regions by gender*

Risk category 1 (Reference)

Employees in jobs with low MHO, < 10 points KIM-MHO

Risk category 2

Employees in jobs with MHO, 10 – 24 points KIM-MHO

Risk category 3

Employees in jobs with MHO, 25 – 49 points KIM-MHO

Risk category 4

Employees in jobs with MHO, ≥ 50 points KIM-MHO

All employees

Women

n = 306

n = 75

n = 59

n = 73

n = 513

 neck/cervical spine

29.7% (24.9% – 35.4%)

23.9% (15.9% – 36.0%)

43.4% (32.4% – 58.1%)

52.0% (41.3% – 65.5%)

35.6% (30.7% – 41.2%)

 shoulder/upper arm

19.9% (15.8% – 25.1%)

19.5% (12.4% – 30.9%)

35.6% (25.3% – 50.2%)

38.0% (28.4% – 50.8%)

27.0% (22.6% – 32.1%)

 elbow/forearm

4.3% (2.5% – 7.4%)

2.7% (0.7% – 10.8%)

14.1% (7.9% – 25.0%)

19.3% (12.4% – 29.9%)

7.5% (5.0% – 11.3%)

 hand/wrist

8.0% (5.4% – 11.8%)

4.2% (1.4% – 12.5%)

23.8% (15.5% – 36.7%)

33.7% (24.1% – 47.1%)

12.8% (9.3% – 17.7%)

 lower back/lumbar spine

13.8% (10.4% – 18.4%)

11.3% (5.9% – 21.8%)

35.1% (24.6% – 50.2%)

30.6% (21.5% – 43.6%)

20.2% (16.2% – 25.2%)

Men

n = 498

n = 173

n = 23

n = 239

n = 933

 neck/ cervical spine

16.5% (13.5% – 20.2%)

12.9% (8.7% – 19.0%)

16.7% (6.8% – 40.9%)

20.2% (15.5% – 26.4%)

16.4% (12.6% – 21.2%)

 shoulder/upper arm

12.6% (9.9% – 15.9%)

9.8% (6.3% – 15.3%)

28.6% (15.5% – 53.0%)

23.6% (18.5% – 30.2%)

17.0% (13.8% – 21.0%)

 elbow/forearm

5.1% (3.6% – 7.4%)

4.6% (2.4% – 8.8%)

12.1% (4.1% – 36.1%)

17.1% (12.5% – 23.4%)

8.3% (5.9% – 11.8%)

 hand/wrist

5.5% (3.8% – 8.0%)

6.4% (3.6% – 11.3%)

30.8% (16.8% – 56.3%)

30.4% (24.6% – 37.7%)

13.5% (10.7% – 17.0%)

 lower back/lumbar spine

6.8% (4.9% – 9.5%)

10.9% (7.1% – 16.6%)

33.4% (19.0% – 58.6%)

32.2% (26.2% – 39.7%)

16.8% (13.7% – 20.6%)

  1. *Estimated mean prevalence of symptoms stratified by the exposure to manual handling operations (MHO) according to KIM-MHO risk categories. Based on regression models with 95%-CI, adjusted by age, body-mass-index and body height