Abstract
Purpose In September 2021, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in Germany (BMAS)
recommended recognising rotator cuff lesions caused by occupational long-term overhead
work, repetitive movements, hand-arm-vibration and carrying and lifting heavy loads
as an occupational disease. To gain a more detailed understanding of the correlation
between occupational risk factors and lesions of the rotator cuff, a systematic literature
review was carried out to determine their influence on the development of rotator
cuff disease.
Material and Method A systematic literature review was used to search in the databases PubMed, Cochrane
and Web-of-Science for papers dealing with occupational shoulder load and associated
shoulder disorders. The influence of overhead work, repetitive movements, hand-arm-vibrations
and carrying and lifting heavy loads were examined.
Results 58 studies were read in full text, of which 13 papers were included in the meta-analysis.
In all risk factors, a significant association can be found with the strongest dose-response
relationship in “overhead work” and “repetitive movements”: overhead work: 2.23 (95%
CI 1.98–2.52), repetitive movements: 2.17 (95% CI 1.92–2.46), hand-arm-vibration:
1.59 (95% CI 1.13–2.23), carrying and lifting heavy loads: 1.57 (95% CI 1.15–2.15).
Conclusion Although a significant effect could be shown in our study for all the four risk factors
examined, due to the low number of studies with high-quality study design and insufficient
pathophysiological explanation for the development of a rotator cuff disease in these
mechanical activities, no reliable correlation can currently be established.
Keywords
shoulder - rotator cuff - rotator cuff disease - occupation - occupational load
