This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow [Supplementary Material]
Right arrow Letters to the Editor: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when Letters to the Editor are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Szabo, R. M.
Right arrow Articles by King, K. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Szabo, R. M.
Right arrow Articles by King, K. J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 82:1314 (2000)
© 2000 The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc.

Current Concepts Review

Repetitive Stress Injury: Diagnosis or Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?*

Robert M. Szabo, M.D., M.P.H.{dagger} and Kenneth J. King, J.D.{ddagger}

*One or more of the authors has received or will receive benefits for personal or professionaluse from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article. No funds were received in support of this study.
{dagger}Department of Orthopaedics, University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, 4860 Y Street, Sacramento, California 95817. E-mail address: rmszabo@ucdavis.edu.
{ddagger}Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, 1633 Broadway, 47th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10019. E-mail address: kking@brobeck.com.


   Introduction
 
The vague definitions of so-called repetitive stress injuries are indicative of the fact that scientific studies have failed to show that repetitive motion causes injury.

Given the uncertainty about causation, work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) is a more readily accepted term to describe these phenomena.

There is little doubt that most ergonomic interventions increase comfort in the work environment, which is of great benefit to the worker.

Many proponents of ergonomics assert that the elimination of certain risk factors related to force, repetition, and posture can prevent or even cure work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the upper extremity. However, there is little scientific support for this position.

Undue reliance on ergonomics to treat musculoskeletal disorders, to the exclusion of proper diagnosis and attention to medical and health risk factors, can have adverse consequences for the patient.

Science rather than politics and public policy should determine what causes injury and disease.

The failure . . . [Full Text of this Article]


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Occup. Environ. Med.Home page
S IJmker, M A Huysmans, B M Blatter, A J van der Beek, W van Mechelen, and P M Bongers
Should office workers spend fewer hours at their computer? A systematic review of the literature
Occup. Environ. Med., April 1, 2007; 64(4): 211 - 222.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Occup Med (Lond)Home page
P. Bragge, A. Bialocerkowski, and J. McMeeken
A systematic review of prevalence and risk factors associated with playing-related musculoskeletal disorders in pianists
Occup. Med., January 1, 2006; 56(1): 28 - 38.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 JBJSHome page
D. Ring, J. Kadzielski, L. Malhotra, S.-G. P. Lee, and J. B. Jupiter
Psychological Factors Associated with Idiopathic Arm Pain
J. Bone Joint Surg. Am., February 1, 2005; 87(2): 374 - 380.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]