Working at the loom and musculoskeletal disorders in a female population of Crete, Greece.

The influence of the working at the loom on the appearance of musculoskeletal disorders has been studied in the adult female population of a highland community of Crete, in which home-based handicraft has an important place in the economic activity. Information about symptoms and clinical signs related to the musculoskeletal system, as well as about socioeconomic characteristics was collected by means of a personal interview and a medical examination. Regression analysis shows that there is a statistically significant association between the intensity of symptoms from the upper extremities and the shoulder-neck region and the number of years of working at the loom, independently from other studied variables, such as BMI, age and number of children per woman.