¹Health and Safety Executive, Science & Research Centre, Harpur Hill, Buxton, United Kingdom

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Introduction: As part of meta-analysis of registry data extracted as part of a systematic review of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) in the construction sector, the relationships between severity rankings of occupations in different studies were investigated.

Methods: Values of Pearson’s r were calculated to compare the rankings of prevalence/incidence rates reported in five studies [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]. For each pair of studies, job titles, and SOC codes where available, were matched manually, and Pearson’s r and associated one-tailed probabilities were found.

Results: Some difficulty was found when matching job titles from different countries. Table 1 [Tab. 1] shows the correlations between the five studies. Five of ten correlations were statistically significant (one-tailed), three at p<0.005, one at p<0.01 and one at p<0.05. The significant correlations accounted for between 38% and 94% of the variance.

Discussion: The high correlation (r = 0.856, R² = 73.3%) between data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses for 2011-4(5) and 2015-7(1) shows that the rankings of tasks in that survey are stable over the 2011-7 period.

The high correlation (r = 0.847, R² = 71.7%) between studies from the USA(5) and the UK(3) indicates a strong relationship between the injury rates in the UK and in matched occupations in the USA. This suggests that it may be possible to use US data to help identify construction occupations that are likely to have high rates of WMSDs in the UK.

Conclusion: Correlations of incidence rates between studies from different parts of the world range from good to poor. Poor correlations can be explained by differences in job classification systems and study design. A good correlation can allow the use of data from one country to identify high-risk occupations. in another.

References

[1] Dong XS, Betit E, Dale AM, Barlet G, Wei Q. Trends of musculoskeletal disorders and interventions in the construction industry. Silver Spring, MD: CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training; 2019.
[2] Duguay P, Cloutier E, Levy M, Massicotte P. Profil statistique des affections vertébrales avec indemnités dans l'industrie de la construction au Québec. Trav Hum. 2001;64(4):321-42.
[3] Stocks SJ, Turner S, McNamee R, Carder M, Hussey L, Agius RM. Occupation and work-related ill-health in UK construction workers. Occup Med (Lond). 2011 Sep;61(6):407-15. DOI: 10.1093/occmed/kqr075
[4] Wahlström J, Burström L, Nilsson T, Järvholm B. Risk factors for hospitalization due to lumbar disc disease. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2012 Jul 1;37(15):1334-9. DOI: 10.1097/BRS.0b013e31824b5464
[5] Wang X, Dong XS, Choi SD, Dement J. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among construction workers in the United States from 1992 to 2014. Occup Environ Med. 2017 May;74(5):374-380. DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2016-103943