The prevalence and risk factors of the carpal tunnel syndrome in railway workers

Introduction. We conducted a comparative analysis of the prevalence and assessed risks of developing the carpal tunnel syndrome in relation to occupation, age, length of employment, and the body mass index for nine hundred twelve railway workers exposed to various occupational risk factors, including whole-body and local vibration, dynamic and static exercise, and hypodynamia.

Materials and methods. The subjects were divided into three groups by working conditions. The first group included 304 drivers and their assistants, the second group was represented by 298 track fitters, and the third group consisted of 310 dispatchers. The carpal tunnel syndrome was diagnosed on the base of complaints, the clinical picture, an in-depth neural orthopedic examination according to a unified methodology, and electroneuromyography results. For statistical data analysis, descriptive statistics, logistic regression and comparison of shares based on the binomial distribution were used.

Results. The risk of developing the syndrome in workers of all groups demonstrated a 1.65-fold gain for every 10 years of life. The highest prevalence of the disease was established among the track fitters (10.3%). The odds of developing the syndrome increased by 1.17 and 1.19 times with a unit increase in the body mass index in the workers of the second and third groups, respectively. Cardiovascular diseases were found to have the greatest impact on the occurrence of the carpal tunnel syndrome in the workers of the third group (OR=8.58); their impact in other workers was weaker but always statistically significant.

Limitations. The article has limitations on detailing working conditions of the groups under study.

Conclusion. Our findings show in the group of drivers and their assistants, the highest risk of the carpal tunnel syndrome to be associated with the length of employment while in the groups of track fitters and dispatchers it was mainly determined by age and the body mass index, respectively.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of the Yekaterinburg Medical Research Center for Prophylaxis and Health Protection in Industrial Workers, Minutes No. 3 of July 12, 2022.

Contribution:
Shirokov V.A. — concept and design of research, editing;
Varaksin A.N. — concept and design of research, statistical processing, editing;
Kochurova L.L. — collection and processing of material, statistical processing, text writing;
Terekhov N.L. — statistical processing;
Lepilina M.V. — concept and design of research, collection and processing the material, writing the text.
All co-authors — approval of the final version of the article, responsibility for the integrity of all parts of the article.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest. 

Acknowledgement. The study had no sponsorship. 

Received: July 18, 2022 / Accepted: December 8, 2022 / Published: January 12, 2023