WP4 - Musculoskeletal health status in Europe

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Musculoskeletal Health in Europe Work
related musculoskeletal disorders and trauma
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Musculoskeletal disorders

• Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD) is the most
  commonly used term for musculoskeletal problems
  that relate to occupational diseases and
  accidents at work.
• Work related MSDs include all musculoskeletal
  disorders that are induced or aggravated by work
  and the circumstances of its performance. (WHO
  2003)
• Most MSDs are chronic and only occur after
  exposure to work based risk factors over a period
  of time.

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Work and Musculoskeletal Conditions
X

• Musculoskeletal conditions limit work capacity
• eg ostearthritis of the hip or knee prevents many
  people aged over 50 years working
• Work causes musculoskeletal disorders
• eg heavy work causes back pain, repetitive work
  related to upper limb problems

WORK
X
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Workers exposure to risk factors for development
of MSC
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Data on MSDs

• It is difficult to obtain comprehensive European
  data on MSDs which are comparable due to
  differences in definitions and the way
  work-related health disorders are recorded (WHO
  2003).
• Sources of data include national statistics,
  insurance figures, national and European surveys.
  These include
• European Working Conditions Survey
• Labour Force Survey
• European Occupational Diseases Statistics (EODS)

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MSDs form high proportion of occupational diseases

• According to the European Occupational Disease
  Statistics in 2005 MSDs constituted 38 of the
  total EODS occupational diseases which were
  recorded in 12 Member States.

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Labour Force Survey

• A good comparative source of data for estimating
  the scale of work related musculoskeletal
  disorders in the European working population is
  the Self-reported Work-related Illness (SWI)
  questionnaire module in the national Labour Force
  Survey (LFS).
• The LFS allows for the calculation of the
  estimated number of people with a work-related
  illness at any time during the 12-month reference
  period. It includes the full range of
  musculoskeletal illnesses from long standing to
  new cases and also the estimated incidence, the
  estimated number of new cases of work-related
  illness occurring in the 12 month reference
  period i.e. people first becoming aware of their
  illness in this 12 month period.

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Work related health problems

• According to the 2007 Labour Force Survey in the
  EU27 8.6 of those aged 15-64 who worked (or had
  worked previously) reported a work-related
  problem in the past 12 months.
• Musculoskeletal problems were the most often
  reported work related health problem (60).
• 50 of persons reporting a work-related health
  problem experienced some limitations in the
  ability to carry out daily activities, 22
  reported having considerable limitations.
• In those with musculoskeletal problems of the
  hip, legs or feet 54 reported some limitations
  and 19 considerable limitations. In those with
  back problems 56 reported some limitations and
  15 considerable limitations.

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Most serious work-related health problems in past
12 months
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Work related problems by sociodemographic
factors, sex
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Work related problems by sociodemographic
factors, age

• Work-related problems increased with age, the
  increase slowed in workers aged 55 to 64 which
  may be because unhealthy workers leave the
  workforce early (Eurostat 2010). This pattern is
  also true of those with MSD.

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Work related problems by sociodemographic
factors, age
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Work related problems by sociodemographic
factors, education

• Low educated workers reported work-related
  problems more often and were more likely to
  report MSDs as the most serious work-related
  problem. In 68 of those with low educational
  level with a work-related health problem MSD was
  the main problem. For those in the high level of
  education classification this was true for 44.

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MSD in past 12 months by education
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Work related problems by sociodemographic
factors, occupation

• Of those with an occupational disease most men
  worked in manufacturing or construction and most
  women worked in wholesale, retail and trade or
  health and social work.
• MSD were most often reported as the main work
  related health problem in manual workers and was
  lowest in highly skilled non-manual workers.

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Work-related health problem by occupation 2007
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Accidents at work

• In 2005 18.1 of non-fatal accidents were
  attributable to physical stress on the
  musculoskeletal system

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Accidents physical stress

• Non-fatal accidents arising from physical stress
  on the musculoskeletal system occurred mostly
  frequently in the construction industry (18.2
  of occurrences) and in health and social work
  (10).
• It was the most common mode of non-fatal injury
  in all sectors of activity.
• Approximately 28 of cases of physical stress in
  the musculoskeletal system was caused by lifting,
  carrying and standing up.

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Accidents at work amputations, bone fractures
EU-15 Norway 2000-2007
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eumusc.net is an information and surveillance
network promoting a comprehensive European
strategy to optimise musculoskeletal health. It
addresses the prevention and management of MSCs
which is neither equitable nor a priority within
most EU member states. It is focused on raising
the awareness of musculoskeletal health and
harmonising the care of rheumatic and
musculoskeletal conditions. It is a 3 year
project that began in February 2010. It is
supported by the European Community (EC Community
Action in the Field of Health 2008-2013), the
project is a network of institutions, researchers
and individuals in 22 organisations across 17
countries, working with and through EULAR.
eumusc.net creating a web-based information
resource to drive musculoskeletal health in
Europe www.eumusc.net  
Disclaimer The Executive Agency for Health and
Consumers is not responsible for any use that is
made of the information contained within this
publication