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. 2023 Mar;80(3):137-145.
doi: 10.1136/oemed-2022-108670. Epub 2023 Jan 12.

Dupuytren's disease is a work-related disorder: results of a population-based cohort study

Bente A van den Berge  1 , Akira Wiberg  2 , Paul M N Werker  1 , Dieuwke C Broekstra #  1   3 , Dominic Furniss #  3   4
Affiliations

Dupuytren's disease is a work-related disorder: results of a population-based cohort study

Bente A van den Berge et al. Occup Environ Med. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: Dupuytren's disease (DD) is a fibroproliferative disorder of the hands, characterised by the development of fibrous nodules and cords that may cause disabling contractures of the fingers. The role of manual work exposure in the aetiology of DD is controversial. We investigated whether current occupational exposure to manual work is associated with DD, and if there is a dose-response relationship.

Methods: In this population-based cohort analysis, we used data from the UK Biobank cohort. Our primary outcome was the presence of DD. The exposure of interest was manual work, measured for each participant in two different ways to allow two independent analyses to be undertaken: (1) the current manual work status of the occupation at the time of recruitment, and (2) a cumulative manual work exposure score, calculated based on the occupational history. We performed propensity score matching and applied a logistic regression model.

Results: We included 196 265 participants for the current manual work analysis, and 96 563 participants for the dose-response analysis. Participants whose current occupation usually/always involved manual work were more often affected with DD than participants whose occupation sometimes/never involved manual work (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.49, p<0.001). There was a positive dose-response relationship between cumulative manual work exposure score and DD. Each increment in cumulative work exposure score increased the odds by 17% (OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.27, p<0.001).

Conclusions: Manual work exposure is a risk factor for DD, with a clear dose-response relationship. Physicians treating patients should recognise DD as a work-related disorder and inform patients accordingly.

Keywords: Occupational Health; Preventive medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: PW was SERB-member and is DMC-member for Fidia Ltd, Milan Italy. Revenues are used for research purposes. PW and DB are part of the scientific advisory board of the Dutch Dupuytren Society. DF is Trustee of the British Dupuytren Society. All other authors declare: no support from any organisation for the submitted work; no financial relationships with any organisations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous 3 years; no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the participant selection process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) The relationship between the self-reported manual work status and O*NET score (0–100) of each job. The x-axis represents the self-reported manual work status, and the y-axis represents the manual work exposure score (0–100). (B) Cumulative manual work exposure scores of patients with and without Dupuytren’s disease (DD). The y-axis represents the proportion of participants, and the x-axis represents the cumulative work exposure score, grouped into bins of 50 points (standardised O*NET-score×years).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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