G Verrijdt

Federal Agency for Nuclear Control

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Lode Godderis

European External Action Service

Anaïs De Landtsheer

KU Leuven

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Á. Callejo Mellén

AstraZeneca (Spain)

A-M Mellen

Federal Agency for Nuclear Control

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KU Leuven

AstraZeneca (Spain)

Sahlgrenska University Hospital

University of Gothenburg

European External Action Service

The Office of Public Works

Centre for Environment Education

Centre International de Recherche sur le Cancer

Universitair Ziekenhuis Leuven

University of Antwerp

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Rhizarthrosis in banknote processing workers: a retrospective cohort study

Occupational Medicine (2017)

G Verrijdt Anaïs De Landtsheer Á. Callejo Mellén Lode Godderis

Rhizarthrosis, or osteoarthritis of the base of the thumb, is a common condition affecting 10-30% of the population over the age of 60. Whether it is an occupational disease has been the subject of debate as epidemiological studies on the correlation between physical stress and the presence of rhizarthrosis have shown conflicting results.To study the correlation between the prevalence of rhizarthrosis and the time spent by employees manually processing banknotes at the National Bank of Belgium (NBB).We followed NBB employees currently or previously holding job titles involving the manual or automated processing of banknotes. Each participant's job history was carefully reconstructed and the number of months holding certain job titles determined. Each participant was clinically and radiologically examined for the presence of rhizarthrosis in both hands. Its presence was scored by a combination of clinical and radiological criteria.There were 195 participants. The prevalence of rhizarthrosis was 27% in women (mean age: 52.3 ± 4.4 years) and 17% in men (mean age: 53.2). The odds ratio (OR) for rhizarthrosis after 10 years' full-time overall exposure was significantly higher [OR 10 years: 1.53 (1.03-2.28)]. However, one particular job, 'manual counting', described by participants as highly straining and severely taxing on the thumbs, did not show a significantly higher prevalence of rhizarthrosis.Our study confirmed the correlation between the presence of rhizarthrosis and age, gender and general manual labour, in particular banknote processing, but found no link with one specific job-manual counting.

Banknote

10.1093/occmed/kqx144

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782 Rhizarthrosis in banknote processing workers: a retrospective cohort study

G Verrijdt Anaïs De Landtsheer A-M Mellen Lode Godderis

Introduction

Rhizarthrosis is a common condition affecting 10% to 30% of the population over the age of 60. Whether or not it is an occupational disease has been the subject of debate as epidemiological studies on the correlation between physical stress and the presence of rhizarthrosis have shown conflicting results. A cluster of cases among banknote processing workers was reported by the OHP to the Federal Agency for Occupational Risks for evaluation

Methods

We have set up a retrospective cohort study covering195 employees currently or previously involved in the manual or automated processing of banknotes. Each participant's job history was carefully reconstructed and the number of months holding certain job titles determined. Each participant was clinically and radiologically examined for the presence of rhizarthrosis in both hands, scored by a combination of clinical and radiological criteria and related to exposure.

Results

The prevalence of rhizarthrosis was 27% in female participants (mean age: 52.3 y±4.4 y) and 17% in male participants (mean age: 53.2±5.8 y). The odds ratio for rhizarthrosis after 10 years' full-time overall exposure was significantly higher (OR10y: 1.53 (1.03–2.28)). Surprisingly, one particular job, 'manual counting', described by participants as highly straining and severely taxing on the thumbs, has not shown any significantly higher prevalence of rhizarthrosis.

Conclusion

Our study has confirmed the correlation between the presence of rhizarthrosis and age, gender and manual repetitive work. We found a significantly higher risk for banknote processing in general but not for one particular job ('manual counting'), although considered by participants as a strenuous effort for the thumbs.

Discussion

This is the first study on the risk of developing rhizarthrosis in banknote processing workers. The result indicates they are at greater risk and calls for adequate occupational health monitoring to prevent irreversible damage to the CMC-1 joint.

Banknote

10.1136/oemed-2018-icohabstracts.786

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