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Handbook of Epidemiology pp 1443–1472Cite as

Musculoskeletal Disorders

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Abstract

Musculoskeletal disorders are a significant public health problem in industrialised countries. They are one of the leading causes of short- and long-term disability and cause high costs due to loss of productivity, burden on health care services and social security systems. It has been estimated that the cost of back pain only is 1–2% of the gross national product. About 10% is due to direct health care costs and 90% due to indirect costs (Norlund and Waddell 2000). In this chapter the focus is in morbidity and aetiology of musculoskeletal disorders. The social consequences, such as disability are not discussed, because disability-related issues depend on the societal context, such as cultural factors and social security regulations, to the extent that cross-national comparisons cannot be made. Firstly, an overview is given of the occurrence and risk factors of the most common musculoskeletal disorders, back and neck disorders, osteoarthritis, upper limb disorders, and osteoporosis. Secondly, some methodological problems in epidemiological research, characteristic for musculoskeletal disorders, are discussed including general study design, and assessment of both health outcome and exposure.

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  1. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH), Topeliuksenkatu 41 a A, 00250, Helsinki, Finland

    Hilkka Riihimäki

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  1. Division of Epidemiological Methods and Ethiologic Research, Bremen Institute for Prevention Research and Social Medicine (BIPS), Linzer Str. 10, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Wolfgang Ahrens  & Iris Pigeot  & 

  2. Division of Biometrie and Data Management, Bremen Institute for Prevention Research and Social Medicine (BIPS), Linzer Str. 10, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Wolfgang Ahrens  & Iris Pigeot  & 

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Riihimäki, H. (2005). Musculoskeletal Disorders. In: Ahrens, W., Pigeot, I. (eds) Handbook of Epidemiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-26577-1_37

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