Eleftheriou Andreas, Rachiotis George, Varitimidis Socratis E, Koutis Charilaos, Malizos Konstantinos N, Hadjichristodoulou1 Christos
Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, 22, Papakyriazi str, Larissa, Thessaly, 41222, Greece.
J Occup Med Toxicol. 2012 Aug 2;7(1):16. doi: 10.1186/1745-6673-7-16.
Contradictory reports have been published regarding the association of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) and the use of computer keyboard. Previous studies did not take into account the cumulative exposure to keyboard strokes among computer workers. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between cumulative keyboard use (keyboard strokes) and CTS.
Employees (461) from a Governmental data entry & processing unit agreed to participate (response rate: 84.1 %) in a cross-sectional study. Α questionnaire was distributed to the participants to obtain information on socio-demographics and risk factors for CTS. The participants were examined for signs and symptoms related to CTS and were asked if they had previous history or surgery for CTS. The cumulative amount of the keyboard strokes per worker per year was calculated by the use of payroll's registry. Two case definitions for CTS were used. The first included subjects with personal history/surgery for CTS while the second included subjects that belonged to the first case definition plus those participants were identified through clinical examination.
Multivariate analysis used for both case definitions, indicated that those employees with high cumulative exposure to keyboard strokes were at increased risk of CTS (case definition A: OR = 2.23;95 % CI = 1.09-4.52 and case definition B: OR = 2.41; 95%CI = 1.36-4.25). A dose response pattern between cumulative exposure to keyboard strokes and CTS has been revealed (p < 0.001).
The present study indicated a possible association between cumulative exposure to keyboard strokes and development of CTS. Cumulative exposure to key-board strokes would be taken into account as an exposure indicator regarding exposure assessment of computer workers. Further research is needed in order to test the results of the current study and assess causality between cumulative keyboard strokes and development of CT.
关于腕管综合征（CTS）与使用电脑键盘之间的关联，已发表了相互矛盾的报告。以往的研究没有考虑到计算机工作者对键盘敲击的累积暴露情况。本研究的目的是调查累积键盘使用量（键盘敲击次数）与CTS之间的关联。
来自一个政府数据录入与处理单位的461名员工同意参与一项横断面研究（回复率：84.1%）。向参与者发放了一份问卷，以获取有关社会人口统计学和CTS风险因素的信息。对参与者进行了与CTS相关的体征和症状检查，并询问他们是否有CTS的既往病史或手术史。通过工资登记册计算出每名工人每年的键盘敲击累积量。使用了两种CTS病例定义。第一种包括有CTS个人病史/手术史的受试者，而第二种包括属于第一种病例定义的受试者以及通过临床检查确定的那些参与者。
对两种病例定义进行的多变量分析表明，那些键盘敲击累积暴露量高的员工患CTS的风险增加（病例定义A：比值比[OR]=2.23；95%置信区间[CI]=1.09 - 4.52；病例定义B：OR = 2.41；95%CI = 1.36 - 4.25）。已揭示出键盘敲击累积暴露量与CTS之间的剂量反应模式（p < 0.001）。
本研究表明键盘敲击累积暴露量与CTS的发生之间可能存在关联。在对计算机工作者进行暴露评估时，应将键盘敲击累积暴露量作为一个暴露指标加以考虑。需要进一步研究以检验本研究的结果，并评估累积键盘敲击次数与CTS发生之间的因果关系。
