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BACKGROUND: The aging of the workforce is changing, but working conditions have not changed at the same exponential growth rate for senior workers. Such a situation can compromise the worker’s physical and cognitive capability, reducing the ability to perform work activities. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to understand the main functional capacity changes in senior workers in the automotive industry and to determine the contribution of working conditions on the decline of the functional capacity in senior workers. METHODS: To achieve the objectives of the study, a set of questionnaires (Sociodemographic Data, COPSOQ, Nordic Questionnaire, and Par-Q) and a battery of 4 functional capacity tests were used. Results: Work conditions, namely awkward postures, force demands and manual material handling, and age, were statistically associated to the functional decline in workers. Additionally, multiple linear regression showed that height, weight, seniority, and strength have predictive value to the handgrip decline (both positions HG2 and HG5). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that workers’ handgrip assessment should be considered as a future measure as an indicator of strength ability in the occupational field.

To determine the short-term associations between biomechanical risk factors and musculoskeletal symptoms in the upper limbs and low back in an automotive company, a longitudinal study with a follow-up of 4 days was conducted in a sample of 228 workers of the assembly and paint areas. Data were analyzed using generalized estimating equations, calculating the crude and adjusted model for age, sex, seniority, and intensity of pain at baseline. The interactions found were the same for both models. Workers were divided in low-risk and high-risk group for posture, force, exposure, percentage of cycle time with the arm at/above shoulder level, and with the trunk flexed or/and strongly flexed. The predictive factors showed by time × group effect were found between pain intensity on the left shoulder for posture (β = 0.221, p < 0.001), percentage of time with the trunk flexed (β = 0.136, p = 0.030) and overall exposure (β = 0.140, p = 0.013). A time × group interactions were observed, namely between neck pain and posture (β = 0.218, p = 0.005) and right wrist and force (β = 0.107, p = 0.044). Workers in the high-risk group were more prone to report unfavorable effects on their self-reported musculoskeletal pain, across a workweek when exposed to specific risk factor, being posture important to neck, right wrist and left shoulder pain.

AimThis study aims to identify the normative values of handgrip strength for Portuguese workers in the automotive industry.MethodsAbout 1225 employees were invited to participate in the study. The final sample consisted of 656 employees in the assembly area. The handgrip strength was measured in kilograms (kg) using the Jamar digital dynamometer. Two measurements were performed in both hands, totaling four measurements. For the present study, the maximum value was recorded regardless of the hand.Resultsshowed the peak mean values of handgrip strength in the group of women was 34 kg in the age group of 35-39 years, and the group of men the peak mean was 52 kg in the age group of 25-34 years. The most pronounced decline in the female group appears in the age of 30-34 years with 30 kg and the men group the decline occurs of 2kg below the peak force, in the age group between the 40-57 years. This study used a cut-off at 2 SD below by the sex-specific peak mean.ConclusionNormative values can help delineate the career path of workers because they portray risk values according to age, height, and gender. And they can also help in adjusting the morphological and strength characteristics of the worker with the task to be performed, as an example of work above head level.Key MessagesThe handgrip strength is a general indicator of muscle strength, in addition to being closely related to cardiovascular and nutritional diseases. Also, this measure is one of the keys to defining sarcopenia.One of the main findings of the study was found in the group of women aged 30-34 years, with a significant decline in handgrip strength compared to other age groups. Furthermore, the present study, established for the first time, normative values for the handgrip strength of Portuguese workers in the automotive industry.The handgrip strength decline is a crucial predictor of frailty syndrome, and sarcopenia can be checked by the occupational medicine department, individually, by the risk threshold outcomes presents in this study. Also, it is possible to design the conditions work processes associated with the predictive values of HG2 and HG5 and the implementation of the workers’ clinical surveillance system through periodic tests of handgrip strength.