P-624 Declarations of Occupational Bilateral Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Tunisian Active Workers in the Private Industries

Introduction The increasing number of Bilateral Carpel Tunnel Syndrome (BCTS) is an emergent problem, leading to heavier occupational burden and increasing economic costs. Our aim is to describe socio-demographic, medical and occupational characteristics of reported occupational bilateral Carpel Tunnel Syndrome. Methods A multicenter retrospective study was conducted to investigate all reported occupational Bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome declarations from January 2005 to December 2016. Results Most of BCTS declarations were those of female workers (sex ratio=0.07) with an average reporting age of 44.2 ± 7 years. Textile and clothing manufacture represented 69% of declarations. The most concerned region was the central district (62.4%). Occupational health physicians reported 71.9 % of all initial medical certificates from whom 76.7% were recognized as occupational diseases. Main reasons of rejection were “Do not apply to the medical criteria” (44.4%) and “Do not apply to the occupational exposure criteria” (23.2%). In 58.5% of the declared BCTS, no complementary medical explorations were performed, while the electromyography was carried out in 39.5% of cases. Discussion This study indicates that the majority of reported BCTS were those of female workers. In fact, biological, kinematic and electromyographic differences would lead to higher musculoskeletal loads among women. Main reasons of declarations rejection were the lack of meeting medical and occupational exposure criteria. This could be related to the status of the reporting physician. Conclusion Our findings re-enforce the promotion of ergonomic interventions at workplace as well as the establishment of a national healthcare program to raise workers awareness about occupational BCTS in Tunisia.