Keith T Palmer

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..In 2011, the Department of Health in England recommended that welders should each receive a single dose of the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23)...

..The prevalence of knee osteoarthritis (OA) is rising and the search for interventions to mitigate risk is intensifying. This review considers the contribution of occupational activities to disease occurrence and the lessons for prevention...

..This review considers the impact of knee osteoarthritis (OA) on work participation and the relation between work and total knee replacement (TKR)...

..Experts disagree about the optimal classification of upper extremity disorders. To explore whether differential response to treatments offers a basis for choosing between case definitions, we analyzed previously published research...

..In conclusion, these data suggest that chronic exposure to metal fume blunts responsiveness to inhaled particulate matter. However, the mechanism behind the lack of detectable local inflammatory response requires further investigation...

..The findings for 1991-2000 were assessed and compared with the mortality pattern from asthma in occupations exposed to known respiratory sensitisers...

..Somatization (a tendency to report distress from somatic symptoms) is a little studied, but potentially important, confounder and effect modifier in occupational studies of musculoskeletal disease...

..Collecting the missing data on occupation would be costly. We estimated the potential for bias if the selection rule were ignored...

..To investigate the factors, including size of organisation, associated with job loss in patients awaiting surgery to the hip or knee joint...

..In this paper we summarize the background and present the guidelines promulgated by the Faculty and the Society...

..Ensuring a fair balance between the rights and obligations of each group requires a value judgement, but the advantages and disadvantages to interested parties must first be quantified in a meaningful way...

..1-129.0). Neck and upper limb pain commonly cluster, and frequently display symmetry and adjacent patterns of involvement. Extensive neck and upper limb pain is far more strongly associated with poor mental vitality than localised pain...

..This paper systematically reviews the work-relatedness of neck-shoulder disorders with associated physical findings...

..This study investigated risk factors for low-back pain among patients referred for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with special focus on whole-body vibration...

..The optimum classification of upper limb disorders (ULDs) remains a cause of debate. Recent efforts to address the issue have focused on translating the consensus criteria of experts into workable protocols for use in field epidemiology...

..To assess occupational associations with tenosynovitis and epicondylitis, we conducted a systematic literature review. We focused particularly on evidence that might support compensation of these disorders 'on the balance of probabilities'...

..To investigate whether knee pain in the community behaves like a regional pain syndrome, determined by its association with mental health, self-rated health (SRH) and beliefs about prognosis...

..Thus, SRH and mental health indices were strong predictors of incident and persistent arm pain in adults from the community, while persistence was also predicted by beliefs about causation and prognosis...

..To investigate approaches adopted to diagnose soft tissue rheumatic disorders of the upper limb (ULDs) in vibration-exposed populations and in other settings, and to compare their methodological qualities...

..To assess occupational risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), we conducted a systematic literature review...

..Beliefs and mental well-being could influence decisions to consult about upper limb pain and satisfaction with care...

..The authors assessed the potential for error for work-associated arm pain...

..To investigate whether common important health conditions and their treatments increase risks of occupational injury...

..To assess the effectiveness of interventions in community and workplace settings to reduce sickness absence and job loss in workers with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)...

..To explore the interaction of smoking and occupational exposure to noise as risk factors for hearing difficulty in the general population...

..An association has previously been reported between finger blanching and hearing difficulties, but only in workers with exposure to noise and hand transmitted vibration (HTV)...

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..Previous estimates of risk in the occupational setting may have been biased by shared expectations, concerns, or other aspects of illness behaviour...

..Although some occupational sources of hand-transmitted vibration (HTV) have been extensively investigated, the risks associated with others are poorly characterized...

..This study determined the prevalence of neck pain and its relation to occupation and occupational activities in the general population...

..Exposure to hand-transmitted vibration (HTV) can cause sensorineural symptoms in the upper limb, but its impact has not previously been assessed in the general population...

..To assess the accuracy with which workers report their exposure to occupational sources of hand transmitted (HTV) and whole body vibration (WBV)...

..However a complementary examination schedule of adequate specificity and repeatability is essential to establish a clinical diagnosis...

..This paper summarizes the background to the initiative, the development process and the standards that have been recommended to aid professional accountability...

..To explore the relation between smoking habits and regional pain in the general population...

..These findings support the hypothesis that ferrous and possibly other metal fumes reversibly predispose to infectious pneumonia. Research should now focus on the underlying mechanisms and prevention...

..Areas of uncertainty, debate and research interest are emphasised where relevant...

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..Some key research questions are proposed aimed at preventing chronicity and disablement from arm pain...

..Thus, in population-based aetiological research and surveillance, simple case definitions should normally suffice. Data on risk factors can justifiably be pooled in meta-analyses, despite differences in case definition...

..7 versus 1.8 for neck pain). This accords with the pattern of transmission of HTV to the upper limb, although a confounding effect from other ergonomic risk factors cannot be discounted...

..These disorders have a substantial impact on physical function and use of health care...

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..To explore the frequency, nature, determinants and outcome of health-related job loss (HRJL) in men sampled from the general population of three rural areas...

..We therefore conducted a longitudinal study to explore whether spinal abnormalities on MRI for LBP predict prognosis after 18 months...

..To assess the prevalence and correlates of regional pain and associated disability in four groups of Japanese workers...

..Serious accidental poisoning by pesticides is rare in the UK, but more minor pesticide-related illness may be under-reported. Anecdotally, use of sheep dip has been linked with flu-like symptoms...

..These findings suggest that, in the classification of numbness and tingling of the hand, it may be useful to distinguish symptoms that involve most of the sensory distribution of the median nerve but not other parts of the hand...

..CONCLUSIONS: The restriction of total neck movement may serve as a marker of severity in community-based studies of neck disorders, but no indication was found that it distinguishes a subset of cases with a distinct etiology...

..Arm pain is a common cause of incapacity for work and is often attributed to occupational activities, but in many cases the pathogenesis is unclear...

..CONCLUSIONS: Somatizing tendency, health anxiety, low mood, CFS and CWP are more common in arm pain consulters. Certain mechanical activities are also overrepresented, particularly in those with specific pathology...

..CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the schedule may usefully distinguish disorders that differ in their association with physical risk factors...

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..To explore the prevalence and pattern of neuropsychiatric symptoms in past users of sheep dip and other pesticides...

..Both are strongly associated with years spent in a noisy occupation--a predominantly male exposure. The national burden of hearing difficulties attributable to noise at work is substantial...

..It appears that individual, mechanical, and psychosocial factors all contribute to upper-limb disorders, suggesting that future strategies for prevention will need to address each of these factors if they are to be successful...

..Some epidemiologic studies have linked occupational exposure to formaldehyde with cancers of the nose, nasopharynx, and lung, but the evidence for human carcinogenicity has been inconsistent and requires clarification...

..To investigate outcome and prognostic determinants for arm pain presenting to primary care and physiotherapy services...

..To investigate the incidence, nature and determinants of non-fatal occupational injuries in British agriculture...

..To explore time trends in deaths attributable to work in England and Wales, and identify priorities for prevention, we conducted a proportional analysis of mortality by occupation over a 22-year period...

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..Recent European initiatives offer scope to follow a more disciplined approach, but more work is urgently required...

..To estimate the number of workers in Great Britain with significant occupational exposure to whole body vibration (WBV) and to identify the common sources of exposure and the occupations and industries where such exposures arise...

..To assess the prevalence of Raynaud's phenomenon in the general population of Great Britain and to estimate the proportion and number of cases attributable to hand transmitted vibration (HTV)...

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..To determine whether these shortcomings matter in practice, an attempt was made to apply the Stockholm vascular scale to 92 consecutive cases of VWF assessed by one area office of the Health and Safety Executive in the United Kingdom...

..To identify opportunities for targeted prevention, we explored differences in occupational mortality from diseases and injuries related to alcohol consumption, sexual habits and drug abuse...

..To obtain further information about the risks of cancer associated with occupational exposure to ethylene oxide..

..systematic review and meta-analysis...

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..This paper describes the methods of data collection and various characteristics of the study sample...

..A corollary is that the best-case definition for a disorder may vary according to the purpose for which it is being applied...

..Occupational activities are suspected of having an adverse impact on outcomes of pregnancy...