Table 1.

Presentation of the study populations with health outcomes, work tasks and ergonomic and psychosocial conditions

	Forklift operators				Office workers
Variable	(n = 150)	Mean	SDa	%b	(n = 44)	Mean	SD	%	P Value
Demographics
Men	110			73	24			55	0.04
Women	40			27	18			41	0.04
Age (range:21–66)		40.4	9.60			37.3	9.42		0.70
Length of employment		9.8	4.41			7.3	5.25		< 0.01
Health and lifestyle
Has experienced neck pain	74			49	13			30	0.02
Neck pain during the previous 7 days	42			28	4			9	0.48
Intensity of neck pain		5.04	2.47			5.0	2.00		0.90
Sick leave due to neck pain	26			17	0			0	< 0.01
Shoulder pain	95			63	17			39	< 0.01
Shoulder pain during the previous 7 days	53			35	4			9	0.03
Intensity of shoulder pain		5.28	2.52			4.36	2.29		0.14
Perceived good health	121			81	39			89	0.08
Ever smoked	84			56	30			68	0.15
Work tasks
Has previously worked as forklift operatorc	150			100	18			41	< 0.01
Low-lifting order picker	123			82	14			32	< 0.01
Counterbalanced tilting mast	129			86	15			34	< 0.01
Reach decker	100			67	11			25	< 0.01
Never sits at work	56			37	7			16	0.02
Sits at work part of the day	42			28	8			18	0.08
Sits at work 100%	52			35	29			66	< 0.01
Works in drafts or cold	69			46	5			11	< 0.01
Floor bumps when operating forklift	69			46	5			11	< 0.01
Neck extension	108			72	9			20	< 0.01
Neck lateral flexion	104			69	8			18	< 0.01
Neck rotation	124			83	12			27	< 0.01
Monotonous arm/ hand movements	119			79	19			43	< 0.01
Heavy lifting arms/ hands	112			75	13			30	< 0.01
Work involving hands above shoulder level	100			67	7			16	< 0.01
Psychosocial factors
Satisfied with work		7.15	1.94			8.1	1.40		0.04
Co-worker support	135			90	43			98	< 0.01
Freedom of work	105			70	39			89	< 0.01
Stress due to high work pace		5.2	2.82			5.4	2.81		0.64
Physically strenuous work		13.6	2.63			8.8	2.34		< 0.01
Work ability now compared with personal best		7.1	1.98			8.6	1.43		< 0.01

Chi squared cross-tabulations (categorical variables) and t-tests (continuous variables) for comparisons between the groups

^aStandard deviation

^bMissing values not taken into consideration when calculating percentages

^cOffice workers may operate forklifts on rare occasions