Associations between single and combined occupational mechanical exposures and surgery for subacromial impingement syndrome: a nationwide Danish cohort study

Objective This study aimed to evaluate whether the risk of surgery for subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS) increases with the number of combined occupational mechanical exposures compared with single exposure. Methods We reanalyzed data from a register-based cohort study of the entire Danish working population (N=2 374 403) with 14 118 events of surgery for SIS (2003-2008). Exposure information in 10-year windows was obtained by combining occupational codes with a job exposure matrix. For single and combined mechanical exposures, we created three exposure variables of the number of years with specific exposure intensities with or without co-existing mechanical exposures. We used logistic regression as survival analysis. Results We found exposure-response relations for duration and intensity of each single mechanical exposure except for repetition. The single effect of arm elevation >90 degrees reached a maximum adjusted odds ratio (ORadj) of 1.7 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.5-2.0], which increased to 1.8 (95% CI 1.5-2.0), 2.0 (95% CI 1.9-2.2), and 2.2 (95% CI 2.0-2.5) when combined with repetition, force, and both. When combining repetition with arm elevation >90 degrees, force, and both, ORadj increased from 1.5 (95% CI 1.3-1.8) to 2.1 (95% CI 1.8-2.4), 2.5 (95% CI 2.4-2.9), and 2.7 (95% CI 2.4-3.0). For force, ORadj increased from 2.5 (95% CI 2.1-2.9) to 2.6 (95% CI 2.3-2.8), 2.8 (95% CI 2.4-3.2), and 3.0 (95% CI 2.6-3.4). Conclusion We found an increased risk of surgery for SIS with the number of combined exposures; the risk was especially pronounced when the combined exposures included force.

Automated summary

This study found that the risk of surgery for subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS) increases with the number of combined mechanical exposures, especially when force is involved.