The Epidemiology of low back pain
Low back pain is an extremely common problem that most people experience at some point in their life. While substantial heterogeneity exists among low back pain epidemiological studies limiting the…
Osteoarthritis
Internationally, prevalence estimates for osteoarthritis show wide variability depending on the age and sex of the studied population, the method of case identification used, and the specificity of joint sites…
Seronegative spondyloarthritis
Seronegative spondyloarthritis (SpA) is a group of inflammatory rheumatic diseases with common clinical and aetiological features, including axial and peripheral inflammatory arthritis, enthesitis, extra-articular manifestations and a close link to…
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a complex disease that affects approximately 0.5% of the adult population worldwide, and occurs in 20–50 cases per 100 000 annually, mainly in women after their…
How to measure the impact of musculoskeletal conditions
Musculoskeletal conditions are universally prevalent among all age and gender groups, across all socio-demographic strata of society. Their impact is pervasive yet this is not widely recognised at the level…
The global burden of musculoskeletal conditions – Why is it important?
Musculoskeletal conditions have an enormous and growing impact worldwide, yet they are not considered a priority by the World Health Organization (WHO) in their global strategy for chronic diseases, and…
Carpal tunnel syndrome: The role of occupational factors
Abstract Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a fairly common condition in working-aged people, sometimes caused by physical occupational activities, such as repeated and forceful movements of the hand and wrist…
Epidemiological aspects of studying work-related musculoskeletal disorders
There are many challenges to conducting valid epidemiological research of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and interpreting reports describing the results. In particular, these concern the basic study design, selection of subjects,…
Management of occupation-related musculoskeletal disorders
Occupation-related musculoskeletal disorders are a common clinical problem. Management presents challenges in understanding the factors that give rise to work loss and disability. To improve outcomes, practitioners need to screen…
Factors that affect the occurrence and chronicity of occupation-related musculoskeletal disorders
The components that affect the occurrence and chronicity of musculoskeletal disease are multifactorial. The return to work process and prevention of future chronic disability commences at the time of the…
