Repetitive Strain Injuries in Adults in the Past 3 Months: United States, 2021.

Objectives-This report describes the percentage of adults aged 18 and over who reported injuries from repetitive strain in the past 3 months by selected sociodemographic characteristics, including age, sex, race and Hispanic origin, and family income. The impacts of these injuries-limitation of usual activity for at least 24 hours and whether a medical professional was consulted for the injuries-are also examined. Methods-Data from the 2021 National Health Interview Survey were used to estimate the percentage of adults who had repetitive strain injuries in the past 3 months by sociodemographic characteristics. Among those who had a repetitive strain injury in the past 3 months, 24-hour limitation of activity and consultation of a medical professional are also examined by sociodemographic characteristics. Results-In 2021, for adults aged 18 and over in the United States, 9.0% had repetitive strain injuries in the past 3 months. Adults aged 35-49 (10.3%) and 50-64 (11.6%), White non-Hispanic adults (subsequently, White; 9.5%), and adults with family income at 400% or more of the federal poverty level (9.8%) tended to have higher percentages. For those who had repetitive strain injuries, 44.2% limited their activities for at least 24 hours, with the highest percentages among White adults (47.0%), women (47.1%), and adults with a family income less than 200% of the federal poverty level (51.0%). For those who limited their activity for at least 24 hours due to a repetitive strain injury, 51.4% consulted a doctor or medical professional, with the highest percentages among women (56.3%) and Black non-Hispanic adults (66.2%).

Socioeconomic Factors for Sports Specialization and Injury in Youth Athletes.

BACKGROUND: The effect of socioeconomic status (SES) on rates of sports specialization and injury among youth athletes has not been described previously. HYPOTHESIS: Young athletes from lower socioeconomic status will have lower rates of sports specialization and subsequently lower risk of overuse injuries. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 3. METHODS: Injured athletes aged 7 to 18 years were recruited from 2 hospital-based sports medicine clinics and compared with uninjured athletes presenting for sports physicals at primary care clinics between 2010 and 2013. Participants completed surveys on training patterns. Electronic medical records provided injury details as well as patient zip code, race, and health insurance type. SES was estimated from zip codes. The sample was divided into SES tertiles. Analysis of variance and multivariate regression were used for continuous variables, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to explore relationships between risk factors and injury. RESULTS: Of 1190 athletes surveyed, 1139 (96%) had satisfactory SES data. Compared with low-SES athletes, high-SES athletes reported more hours per week spent playing organized sports (11.2 ± 6.0 vs 10.0 ± 6.5; P = 0.02), trained more months per year in their main sport (9.7 ± 3.1 vs 7.6 ± 3.7; P < 0.01), were more often highly specialized (38.9% vs 16.6%; P < 0.01), and had increased participation in individual sports (64.8% vs 40.0%; P < 0.01). The proportion of athletes with a greater than 2:1 ratio of weekly hours in organized sports to free play increased with SES. Accounting for age and weekly organized sports hours, the odds of reporting a serious overuse injury increased with SES (odds ratio, 1.5; P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: High-SES athletes reported more serious overuse injuries than low-SES athletes, potentially due to higher rates of sports specialization, more hours per week playing organized sports, higher ratio of weekly hours in organized sports to free play, and greater participation in individual sports. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: As SES increases, young athletes report higher degrees of sports specialization, greater participation in individual sports, and more serious overuse injuries.

Upper body musculoskeletal symptoms of Latino poultry processing workers and a comparison group of Latino manual workers.

BACKGROUND: Upper body musculoskeletal injuries are often attributed to rapid work pace and repetitive motions. These job features are common in poultry processing, an industry that relies on Latino immigrants. Few studies document the symptom burden of immigrant Latinos employed in poultry processing or other manual jobs. METHODS: Latino poultry processing workers (n = 403) and a comparison population of 339 Latino manual workers reported symptoms for six upper body sites during interviews. We tabulated symptoms and explored factors associated with symptom counts. RESULTS: Back symptoms and wrist/hand symptoms lasting more than 1-day were reported by over 35% of workers. Poultry processing workers reported more symptoms than comparison workers, especially wrist and elbow symptoms. The number of sites at which workers reported symptoms was elevated for overtime workers and workers who spoke an indigenous language during childhood. CONCLUSION: Workplace conditions facing poultry processing and indigenous language speaking workers deserve further exploration.

War's long shadow: masculinity, medicine, and the gendered politics of trauma, 1914-1939.

War is an inherently traumatizing experience, and during the First World War more than 15,000 Canadian soldiers were diagnosed with some form of war-related psychological wounds. Many more went unrecognized. Yet the very act of seeking an escape from the battlefield or applying for a postwar pension for psychological traumas transgressed masculine norms that required men to be aggressive, self-reliant, and un-emotional. Using newly available archival records, contemporary medical periodicals, doctors' notes, and patient interview transcripts, this paper examines two crises that arose from this conflict between idealized masculinity and the emotional reality of war trauma. The first came on the battlefield in 1916 when, in some cases, almost half the soldiers evacuated from the front were said to be suffering from emotional breakdowns. The second came later, during the Great Depression, when a significant number of veterans began to seek compensation for their psychological injuries. In both crises, doctors working in the service of the state constructed trauma as evidence of deviance, in order to parry a larger challenge to masculine ideals. In creating this link between war trauma and deviance, they reinforced a residual conception of welfare that used tests of morals and means to determine who was deserving or undeserving of state assistance. At a time when the Canadian welfare state was being transformed in response to the needs of veterans and their families, doctors' denial that "real men" could legitimately exhibit psychosomatic symptoms in combat meant that thousands of legitimately traumatized veterans were left uncompensated by the state and were constructed as inferior, feminized men.

Using lay health promoters in occupational health: outcome evaluation in a sample of Latino poultry-processing workers.

Lay Health Promoters (LHPs) are widely used in community health education, but their use and evaluation in occupational health has been limited to farm workers. Evaluation data were collected from 30 randomly selected Latino poultry processing workers who had an encounter with an LHP who delivered Maria's Story, an occupational health lesson about cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs). Participants had good recall of Maria's Story. Most participants (n = 18, 60%) could identify the primary occupational health exposure linked to CTDs, more than 50% of participants (n = 16) could recall one or more ways of preventing CTDs, and 43.3% (n = 13) described in detail recommended treatments. Nearly one-half (n = 12) reported an occupational health behavior change after hearing Maria's Story. The results of this study suggest that LHPs may be effective in promoting occupational health and reducing occupational health disparities among ethnic minorities in high-risk occupations.

Iliotibial band Z-lengthening.

Iliotibial band friction syndrome (ITBFS) is a common overuse injury reported to afflict 1.6% to 12% of runners. It results from an inflammatory response secondary to excessive friction that occurs between the lateral femoral epicondyle and the iliotibial band. Initial treatments include rest, anti-inflammatory medication, modalities (ice or heat), stretching, physical therapy, and possibly a cortisone injection. In recalcitrant cases of ITBFS, surgery has been advocated. This report describes a surgical technique of Z-lengthening of the iliotibial band in patients presenting with lateral knee pain localized to the iliotibial band at the lateral femoral epicondyle and Gerdy's tubercle who failed all nonoperative efforts.