Table 3. Generated odds ratio estimates (95% CIs) for selected personal factors on neck/shoulder and distal upper extremity pain.
| Variable | Category | Neck/shoulder pain | Distal upper extremity pain | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Crude | Adjusted* | Number | Crude | Adjusted* | ||||
| No pain | With pain | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | No | Yes | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | ||
| Gender | Female | 250 | 85 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 272 | 63 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Male | 145 | 40 | 0.81 (0.53 to 1.24) | 0.50 (0.28 to 0.90) | 166 | 19 | 0.49 (0.29 to 0.85) | 0.55 (0.28 to 1.09) | |
| Age group | <30 | 84 | 37 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 105 | 16 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| 30–39 | 140 | 36 | 0.58 (0.34 to 0.99) | 0.50 (0.27 to 0.94) | 154 | 22 | 0.94 (0.47 to 1.87) | 1.03 (0.46 to 2.28) | |
| 40–49 | 119 | 34 | 0.65 (0.38 to 1.12) | 0.61 (0.3 to 1.27) | 123 | 30 | 1.60 (0.83 to 3.1) | 1.64 (0.69 to 3.92) | |
| >49 | 52 | 18 | 0.79 (0.41 to 1.52) | 0.79 (0.31 to 2.06) | 56 | 14 | 1.64 (0.75 to 3.6) | 1.61 (0.53 to 4.93) | |
| ptrend† | 0.38 | 0.55 | 0.07 | 0.24 | |||||
| Ethnicity | Asian/Pacific Islander | 123 | 24 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 129 | 18 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Hispanic | 253 | 96 | 1.94 (1.18 to 3.19) | 2.00 (0.94 to 4.25) | 289 | 60 | 1.49 (0.84 to 2.62) | 1.47 (0.63 to 3.46) | |
| Caucasian | 19 | 5 | 1.35 (0.46 to 3.96) | 1.37 (0.43 to 4.34) | 20 | 4 | 1.43 (0.44 to 4.67) | 1.51 (0.43 to 5.31) | |
| Educational level | Primary | 179 | 56 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 197 | 38 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| High school | 196 | 65 | 1.06 (0.70 to 1.60) | 1.12 (0.69 to 1.81) | 222 | 39 | 0.91 (0.56 to 1.48) | 0.94 (0.54 to 1.64) | |
| University or above | 19 | 4 | 0.67 (0.22 to 2.06) | 0.54 (0.15 to 1.93) | 18 | 5 | 1.44 (0.5 to 4.11) | 1.35 (0.40 to 4.52) | |
| Marital status | Living alone | 78 | 32 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 92 | 18 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Cohabitating but not married | 77 | 33 | 1.04 (0.59 to 1.86) | 0.99 (0.52 to 1.91) | 93 | 17 | 0.93 (0.45 to 1.92) | 0.93 (0.42 to 2.06) | |
| Married but separated | 56 | 19 | 0.83 (0.43 to 1.61) | 0.68 (0.32 to 1.44) | 58 | 17 | 1.50 (0.71 to 3.14) | 1.26 (0.55 to 2.89) | |
| Married and live with spouse | 141 | 25 | 0.43 (0.24 to 0.78) | 0.51 (0.24 to 1.08) | 143 | 23 | 0.82 (0.42 to 1.61) | 1.16 (0.50 to 2.69) | |
| Living with children | No children | 89 | 31 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 104 | 16 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| ⩽5 years | 115 | 42 | 1.05 (0.61 to 1.80) | 1.01 (0.55 to 1.87) | 134 | 23 | 1.12 (0.56 to 2.22) | 1.07 (0.49 to 2.32) | |
| >5 years old | 191 | 52 | 0.78 (0.47 to 1.30) | 0.79 (0.44 to 1.42) | 200 | 43 | 1.40 (0.75 to 2.60) | 1.32 (0.66 to 2.64) | |
| Supporting families outside of household | No | 199 | 36 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 186 | 49 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Yes | 239 | 46 | 1.38 (0.92 to 2.08) | 1.34 (0.82 to 2.20) | 209 | 76 | 1.06 (0.66 to 1.71) | 1.26 (0.71 to 2.21) | |
| BMI | Underweight (<18.5 kg/m2) | 6 | 0 | – | – | 6 | 0 | – | – |
| Healthy (18.6–24.9 kg/m2) | 150 | 53 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 167 | 38 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
| Overweight (25–29.9 kg/m2) | 150 | 45 | 1.18 (0.75 to 1.86) | 0.94 (0.56 to 1.57) | 165 | 28 | 1.37 (0.81 to 2.34) | 1.15 (0.64 to 2.07) | |
| Obese (>29.9 kg/m2) | 67 | 16 | 0.80 (0.42 to 1.51) | 0.60 (0.30 to 1.21) | 72 | 11 | 0.91 (0.43 to 1.93) | 0.71 (0.31 to 1.61) | |
| Physical activity | None | 149 | 45 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 159 | 35 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| <once per week | 27 | 7 | 0.86 (0.35 to 2.10) | 0.74 (0.27 to 2.05) | 31 | 3 | 0.44 (0.13 to 1.52) | 0.37 (0.08 to 1.71) | |
| Once or twice per week | 126 | 45 | 1.18 (0.73 to 1.90) | 1.07 (0.61 to 1.89) | 151 | 20 | 0.60 (0.33 to 1.09) | 0.72 (0.37 to 1.41) | |
| ⩾times per week | 93 | 28 | 1.00 (0.58 to 1.71) | 0.87 (0.48 to 1.58) | 97 | 24 | 1.12 (0.63 to 2.00) | 0.93 (0.49 to 1.76) | |
| ptrend† | 0.78 | 0.82 | 0.88 | 0.73 | |||||
| Smoking behaviour | None | 339 | 102 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 368 | 73 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Past smoker | 40 | 14 | 1.16 (0.61 to 2.22) | 1.77 (0.81 to 3.89) | 47 | 7 | 0.75 (0.33 to 1.73) | 1.17 (0.45 to 3.04) | |
| Current smoker | 16 | 9 | 1.87 (0.80 to 4.36) | 2.20 (0.82 to 5.89) | 23 | 2 | 0.44 (0.10 to 1.90) | 0.57 (0.12 to 2.69) | |
| Physician diagnosed MSDs | No | 352 | 91 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 387 | 56 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Yes | 43 | 34 | 2.60 (1.44 to 4.70) | 3.08 (1.59 to 5.95) | 51 | 26 | 2.17 (1.12 to 4.21) | 2.37 (1.13 to 5.00) | |
| Physician diagnosed systemic illness‡ | No | 365 | 103 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 400 | 68 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Yes | 30 | 22 | 3.06 (1.85 to 5.07) | 3.45 (1.88 to 6.30) | 38 | 14 | 3.52 (2.03 to 6.10) | 3.43 (1.81 to 6.51) | |
| Years of employment in garment industry | Quartile 1 (<7) | 101 | 16 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 138 | 16 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Quartile 2 (7–10) | 262 | 95 | 1.00 (0.55 to 1.80) | 0.93 (0.48 to 1.82) | 94 | 12 | 1.10 (0.50 to 2.43) | 1.32 (0.56 to 3.13) | |
| Quartile 3 (11–15) | 31 | 13 | 1.13 (0.67 to 1.92) | 1.12 (0.60 to 2.07) | 121 | 31 | 2.21 (1.15 to 4.24) | 2.69 (1.26 to 5.73) | |
| Quartile 4 (>15) | 31 | 13 | 1.19 (0.67 to 2.11) | 1.21 (0.58 to 2.53) | 85 | 23 | 2.33 (1.17 to 4.67) | 2.22 (0.93 to 5.33) | |
| ptrend† | 0.49 | 0.55 | 0.004 | 0.02 | |||||
* Adjusted models included: age, gender, ethnicity, BMI, medical history of MSD, smoking behaviour, shop size, years of employment in garment industry, number of sewing machines operated, number of rest breaks, job strain, and social support; † p value for trend across categories (Pearson's chi-squared test) ;‡ the list of systemic illnesses or diseases included: diabetes (excluding pregnancy-related diabetes), rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erythematodes, degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis), Hyper- or hypo-thyroidism, chronic renal failure, and gout.