ORIGINAL ARTICLE J. B. Malchaire á Y. Roquelaure á N. Cock á A. Piette S. Vergracht á H. Chiron Musculoskeletal complaints, functional capacity, personality and psychosocial factors Received: 12 February 2001 /Accepted: 30 June 2001 / Published online: 27 September 2001 Ó Springer-Verlag 2001 Abstract Objectives: The aim of the research was to study the association between psychosocial and personality factors, and neck and wrist-hand musculo- skeletal complaints, taking account of the occupational factors of force, posture and repetitiveness, and non- occupational risk factors such as sport, hobbies, medical history. Methods: During personal interviews 133 women from seven dierent companies, working at constraining workplaces very repetitive work), answered several questionnaires. These concerned: per- sonal characteristics and history; work characteristics; psychosocial factors perception and appreciation of the work situation, satisfaction at work, stress symptoms, Karasek questionnaire) and personality factors neur- oticism, conscientiousness, type-A behavior). They also undertook functional and psychomotor tests wrist angles, grip strength and a dexterity test). Logistic regression models were calculated. Results: Wrist-hand complaints appear to be associated with some personal characteristics smoking habits, fewer hobbies), work constraints fewer breaks, heavy lifting eorts) and some personality introversion) and psychosocial factors worse appreciation of work). Neck complaints are also associated with some personal characteristics young people, small, bad health, hormonal problems, fewer hobbies), some personality urgency of time) and psychosocial factors constraints as seen by the super- visor). Conclusion: The study con®rms the multifactorial character of the musculoskeletal disorders and under- lines the need for a global ergonomic approach to work situations, taking into account all their physical, psychological and social components. Keywords Risk factors á Neck á Wrist-hand á Ergonomics á Stress Introduction Many studies concerning the musculoskeletal disorders MSDs) of the upper limbs and the neck have been published, and the occupational and non-occupational risk factors are now rather well known. The main biomechanical risk factors are eort, repetitiveness, postures and vibration Malchaire et al. 1997), and the non-occupational factors most often identi®ed as risk factorsarehobbies,thepracticeofracketsports,systemic diseases and so on, and these factors remain to be taken into account in any study of susceptibility to the MSDs. These factors explain only part of the prevalence of MSDs. This is why, during the past 10 years, more and more studies were interested in the relationship between certain psychosocial factors and the MSDs, initially for back disorders and then for the upper limbs. From these studies, it becomes evident that such an association indeed exists Bongers et al. 1993), but it remains vague and leads little to prevention measures. That is partly due to the fact that these factors were often approached in a dierent way by the researchers, thatthescienti®cworld,atleastinthe®eldoftheMSDs, did not agree on common de®nitions of these concepts and that the evaluation tools questionnaires) were dierent and often speci®c to the study. It is particularly true for the stress questionnaires, developed mainly for the tertiary sector, some directed towards stress factors at work stressors), others towards somatic disorders and stress signals such as emotional tiredness, rumination, emotional reactions at work and so on. In addition, these questionnaires are not, in general, usable as such in the secondary industrial sector, and must be adapted. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 2001) 74: 549±557 DOI 10.1007/s004200100264 J. B. Malchaire &) á N. Cock á A. Piette á S. Vergracht Universite catholique de Louvain, Unite HygieÁne et Physiologie du Travail, Clos Chapelle-aux-Champs 30±38, 1200 Brussels, Belgium E-mail: malchaire@hytr.ucl.ac.be Tel.: +32-2-7643229 Fax: +32-2-7643954 Y. Roquelaure á H. Chiron Centre de Consultation de Pathologie professionnelle, CHU, Angers, France