Canadian Workers Living in Pain

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By Lakeland Simms
Worksite News Service
 A growing number of workers are suffering in silence from a chronic pain contracted from repetitious movement which puts strain on their joints and muscles- about 2.3 million workers across the nation, according to a new report by Statistics Canada.

 
More than one-third of the workers reporting repetitive-strain injuries says they’ve suffered from pain for some time, having never reported the condition.

The data indicate that the incidence of RSI in the country has increased markedly, a likely reflection of growing computer use and because workers are under increased stress. In 2001, 10.1 per cent of Canadians had the condition, up from 8 per cent in 1996.

Men and women have the condition in equal numbers, but the body parts affected are different. Half of all RSIs happen on the job, the other half during sports and household tasks.

RSI is the name given to a group of conditions brought about when stress is placed on a joint. The injury occurs when the same action - from typing to scooping ice cream - is performed over and over. The repetitive gestures cause pain and swelling in the muscles, tendons and bursas (small sacs filled with fluid that act as cushions between tendons and bones).

The two most common types of RSI are tendonitis (inflammation of a tendon) and bursitis (an inflammation of a bursa).

The data, published in yesterday's edition of Health Reports, were drawn from two large health surveys with more than 125,000 respondents.

The research, among the first to look at the problem of RSI in the general population rather than in specific occupations, confirms that some jobs place workers at greater risk than others.

Not surprisingly, women and men who work in sales and service and in word processing have the highest rates of RSI, followed by manual labourers in the fisheries, on farms and in forestry. Managers are least likely to contract RSI.

The research reveals that stress is a major contributor to RSI, particularly among women. Among those who describe their work as "extremely stressful," the rate of RSI tops 18 per cent - almost double the rate in the general population.

Most repetitive-strain injuries affect the upper body: About 25 per cent were to the neck or shoulder, followed by 23 per cent to the wrist or hand, the back (19 per cent) and the elbow or lower arm (16 per cent). The balance involved a lower extremity or unspecified body part.

Women are more likely to injure their necks, shoulders and hands, due to tasks such as typing and data processing. Men tend to hurt their arms, legs and backs, injuries associated with lifting.WSN