ABSTRACT

There is growing concern about the lack of epidemiological studies investigating common forearm and elbow injuries such as pronator teres syndrome, lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow), medial epicondylitis, and supinator (radial tunnel) syndrome amongst others. Based on a review of over 600 Work-related Musculo Skeletal Disorder (WMSD) studies of the neck, upper limb and back, Bernard (1997) indicated that there are fewer epidemiological studies addressing workplace risk factors of the elbow than for other WMSDs. One of the first references to WMSDs of the elbow is that of Cyriax (1936) via Bernard (1997) who defined a “chronic occupational” variety of lateral epicondylitis that appeared in patients who completed work involving repeated pronation and supination forearm movements with the elbow almost fully extended. Similarly Hughes et al. (1997) found a very strong relationship between elbow forearm disorders and the number of years of forearm twisting. In addition, Sinclair (1964) found a strong relationship for occupations that included the gripping of tools with repeated forearm supination and pronation.