Prevalence and determinants of lateral and medial epicondylitis: a population study
Two articles on PainSci cite Shiri 2006: 1. Tennis Elbow Guide 2. Smoking and Chronic Pain
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
Epicondylitis is a common disorder of the arm, yet the role of individual- and work-related factors has not been addressed in a population study. The aims of this study were to estimate the prevalence of lateral and medial epicondylitis and to investigate their risk factors. The target population of this study comprised a representative sample of people aged 30-64 years residing in Finland during 2000-2001. Of the 5,871 subjects, 4,783 (81.5%) were included in this study. The prevalence of definite lateral epicondylitis was 1.3%, and that of medial epicondylitis was 0.4%. The prevalence did not differ between men and women and was highest in subjects aged 45-54 years. Current smoking (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 3.4, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.4, 8.3) and former smoking (OR = 3.0, 95% CI: 1.3, 6.6) were associated with definite lateral epicondylitis. An interaction (p = 0.002) was found between repetitive movements of the arms and forceful activities for the risk of possible or definite lateral epicondylitis (for both repetitive and forceful activities vs. no such activity: OR = 5.6, 95% CI: 1.9, 16.5). Smoking, obesity, repetitive movements, and forceful activities independently of each other showed significant associations with medial epicondylitis. Epicondylitis is relatively common among working-age individuals in the general population. Physical load factors, smoking, and obesity are strong determinants of epicondylitis.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
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