Knee osteoarthritis among airport baggage handlers: A prospective cohort study
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Standard
Knee osteoarthritis among airport baggage handlers : A prospective cohort study. / Mikkelsen, Sigurd; Pedersen, Ellen B; Brauer, Charlotte; Møller, Karina L; Alkjaer, Tine; Koblauch, Henrik; Simonsen, Erik B; Thygesen, Lau C.
In: American Journal of Industrial Medicine, Vol. 62, No. 11, 2019, p. 951-960.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Author
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Knee osteoarthritis among airport baggage handlers
T2 - A prospective cohort study
AU - Mikkelsen, Sigurd
AU - Pedersen, Ellen B
AU - Brauer, Charlotte
AU - Møller, Karina L
AU - Alkjaer, Tine
AU - Koblauch, Henrik
AU - Simonsen, Erik B
AU - Thygesen, Lau C
N1 - © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis is a common and often disabling disorder, which has been related to knee-straining work. However, exposure response relations are uncertain and there are few prospective studies. We studied prospectively if incident knee osteoarthritis is associated with cumulative exposure as an airport baggage handler, lifting on average 5000 kg/d.METHODS: The study is based on the Copenhagen Airport Cohort, a historical cohort of male baggage handlers and a reference group of unskilled men from the greater Copenhagen area, followed from 1990 to 2012. Cumulative years of employment as a baggage handler was based on information from company employment and union registers. Outcome was first hospital admission with a discharge diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis and/or knee replacement, ascertained from the Danish National Patient Register.RESULTS: The cohort contained 3442 baggage handlers and 65 511 workers in the reference group. The unadjusted incidence rate ratio (IRR) of knee osteoarthritis increased steeply with cumulative years as a baggage handler. Although the exposure-response pattern became weaker and statistically nonsignificant (P ≈ .10) when adjusting for age, the risk of knee osteoarthritis was still increased in baggage handlers at the highest exposure level. Additional analyses showed that the association between age and osteoarthritis was stronger for baggage handlers (IRR = 2.09; 95% CI: 1.68-2.60) than for referents (IRR = 1.58; 95% CI: 1.53-1.63), indicating that knee osteoarthritis occurred at a younger age among baggage handlers than in the reference group.CONCLUSIONS: The results of this prospective cohort study support that long-term heavy lifting increases the risk of knee osteoarthritis.
AB - BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis is a common and often disabling disorder, which has been related to knee-straining work. However, exposure response relations are uncertain and there are few prospective studies. We studied prospectively if incident knee osteoarthritis is associated with cumulative exposure as an airport baggage handler, lifting on average 5000 kg/d.METHODS: The study is based on the Copenhagen Airport Cohort, a historical cohort of male baggage handlers and a reference group of unskilled men from the greater Copenhagen area, followed from 1990 to 2012. Cumulative years of employment as a baggage handler was based on information from company employment and union registers. Outcome was first hospital admission with a discharge diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis and/or knee replacement, ascertained from the Danish National Patient Register.RESULTS: The cohort contained 3442 baggage handlers and 65 511 workers in the reference group. The unadjusted incidence rate ratio (IRR) of knee osteoarthritis increased steeply with cumulative years as a baggage handler. Although the exposure-response pattern became weaker and statistically nonsignificant (P ≈ .10) when adjusting for age, the risk of knee osteoarthritis was still increased in baggage handlers at the highest exposure level. Additional analyses showed that the association between age and osteoarthritis was stronger for baggage handlers (IRR = 2.09; 95% CI: 1.68-2.60) than for referents (IRR = 1.58; 95% CI: 1.53-1.63), indicating that knee osteoarthritis occurred at a younger age among baggage handlers than in the reference group.CONCLUSIONS: The results of this prospective cohort study support that long-term heavy lifting increases the risk of knee osteoarthritis.
U2 - 10.1002/ajim.23044
DO - 10.1002/ajim.23044
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 31452223
VL - 62
SP - 951
EP - 960
JO - American Journal of Industrial Medicine
JF - American Journal of Industrial Medicine
SN - 0271-3586
IS - 11
ER -
ID: 226528264