ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to identify the early musculoskeletal symptoms of the hand and upper-extremity of the workers in the poultry industry. A group of 154 workers in the poultry industry participated in our study. Fifty nine of these workers were women mean aged 30.25 years ' 6.19; 95 were men mean aged 28.52 years' 5.35. The majority of the female workers surveyed, 86%, expressed complaints in their hands, 27% in the arms, 27% in the shoulders, 20% in the forearms, 11% in the elbows and 53% of the male workers voiced some complaints in their hands, 14% in arms, 12% in shoulders, 7% in forearms and 4% in elbows. According to these results, both female and male workers were observed to have complaints mostly on the hands/wrists; these are followed by the arm/shoulder and forearm/elbow complaints. At the end of the study, depending on the early musculoskeletal findings in hand and upper extremities we determined to call attention to the following two points: 1. the necessity of providing the employers and the employees with the educational programs aiming at preventing these disorders 2. regular check ups should be given to the workers