Workstyle intervention for the prevention of work-related upper extremity problems : a randomized controlled trial /

by Nicholas, Rena A.

Workstyle is a description of how people perform their work and is proposed as a mechanism by which ergonomic and psychosocial stressors in the workplace interact with the individual’s cognitive and behavioral responses to work demands, which place a worker at risk for the development and/or exacerbation of work-related upper extremity symptoms and disorders (WRUES/Ds). Recent investigations have shown that multicomponent interventions (i.e., ergonomic redesign and individual stress management) show promise for increasing the effectiveness and durability of intervention benefits. Therefore, inclusion of workstyle-related interventions into workplace WRUED prevention (primary and secondary) programs may result in better overall treatment gains because a focus on workstyle may simultaneously address multiple risk factors for WRUEDs. This study compared treatment outcomes for interventions combining workstyle and ergonomic modification at the workplace compared to addressing workstyle or ergonomic management alone. Symptomatic workers were recruited to participate in one of the three intervention conditions or in a wait-list control condition, where measures of ergonomic risk, psychosocial stress, workstyle response, and symptom status were collected at baseline, post-treatment, and at a 3-month follow-up period. Results indicated that although all groups improved over time, no intervention produced outcomes superior to the control group. The results suggest that future interventions should be more intensive to produce significant and lasting improvements. Workstyle 3