Development of a gender-specific European job exposure matrix (EuroJEM) for physical workload and its validation against musculoskeletal pain
OBJECTIVES: The aim was to develop a gender-specific European job exposure matrix (EuroJEM) for occupational physical workload and study its predictive validity for musculoskeletal pain in four European cohorts. METHODS: National, gender-specific JEM from Finland, France, Norway and Sweden, based on...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH)
2025-03-01
|
| Series: | Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
https://www.sjweh.fi/article/4203
|
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850204893212573696 |
|---|---|
| author | Svetlana Solovieva Alexis Descatha Ingrid Sivesind Mehlum Eira Viikari-Juntura Karina Undem Karin Berglund Fabien Gilbert Francesca Wuytack Angelo d’Errico Kathryn Badarin Bradley Evanoff Katarina Kjellberg |
| author_facet | Svetlana Solovieva Alexis Descatha Ingrid Sivesind Mehlum Eira Viikari-Juntura Karina Undem Karin Berglund Fabien Gilbert Francesca Wuytack Angelo d’Errico Kathryn Badarin Bradley Evanoff Katarina Kjellberg |
| author_sort | Svetlana Solovieva |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | OBJECTIVES: The aim was to develop a gender-specific European job exposure matrix (EuroJEM) for occupational physical workload and study its predictive validity for musculoskeletal pain in four European cohorts. METHODS: National, gender-specific JEM from Finland, France, Norway and Sweden, based on self-reported exposure information, were evaluated for similarities in exposures, exposure definitions, and occupational coding. The EuroJEM harmonized five exposures: heavy lifting, faster breathing due to heavy workload, kneeling/squatting, forward bent posture, and working with hands above shoulder level. Our expert panel addressed disagreements and missing information to reach consensus on exposure levels across occupations. To assess predictive validity of the EuroJEM, we examined associations between the harmonized exposure measures and self-reported musculoskeletal pain across the four cohorts. RESULTS: The EuroJEM provides semi-quantitative exposure estimates for 374 ISCO-88 (COM) occupational codes. Five categories of exposure were defined by the proportion of workers exposed within each occupation. Comparable and statistically significant associations were found between EuroJEM exposures and low back, shoulder, and knee pain across all cohorts and genders, except for knee pain among women in the Finnish cohort. For instance, in both genders heavy lifting, faster breathing due to heavy workload, and forward bent posture were statistically significantly associated with low-back pain in all four cohorts, with OR ranging from 1.25–2.18 (men) and 1.23–2.04 (women). CONCLUSIONS: Despite differences in study populations and outcome definitions, good predictive validity was observed in each national cohort, suggesting that EuroJEM can be an effective tool for exposure assessment in large-scale European epidemiological studies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cbd3faee4da44a4c92ac4a8741b3ec5a |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0355-3140 1795-990X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-cbd3faee4da44a4c92ac4a8741b3ec5a2025-08-20T02:11:12ZengNordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH)Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health0355-31401795-990X2025-03-0151211912910.5271/sjweh.42034203Development of a gender-specific European job exposure matrix (EuroJEM) for physical workload and its validation against musculoskeletal painSvetlana Solovieva0Alexis Descatha1Ingrid Sivesind Mehlum2Eira Viikari-Juntura3Karina Undem4Karin Berglund5Fabien Gilbert6Francesca Wuytack7Angelo d’Errico8Kathryn Badarin9Bradley Evanoff10Katarina Kjellberg11Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.OBJECTIVES: The aim was to develop a gender-specific European job exposure matrix (EuroJEM) for occupational physical workload and study its predictive validity for musculoskeletal pain in four European cohorts. METHODS: National, gender-specific JEM from Finland, France, Norway and Sweden, based on self-reported exposure information, were evaluated for similarities in exposures, exposure definitions, and occupational coding. The EuroJEM harmonized five exposures: heavy lifting, faster breathing due to heavy workload, kneeling/squatting, forward bent posture, and working with hands above shoulder level. Our expert panel addressed disagreements and missing information to reach consensus on exposure levels across occupations. To assess predictive validity of the EuroJEM, we examined associations between the harmonized exposure measures and self-reported musculoskeletal pain across the four cohorts. RESULTS: The EuroJEM provides semi-quantitative exposure estimates for 374 ISCO-88 (COM) occupational codes. Five categories of exposure were defined by the proportion of workers exposed within each occupation. Comparable and statistically significant associations were found between EuroJEM exposures and low back, shoulder, and knee pain across all cohorts and genders, except for knee pain among women in the Finnish cohort. For instance, in both genders heavy lifting, faster breathing due to heavy workload, and forward bent posture were statistically significantly associated with low-back pain in all four cohorts, with OR ranging from 1.25–2.18 (men) and 1.23–2.04 (women). CONCLUSIONS: Despite differences in study populations and outcome definitions, good predictive validity was observed in each national cohort, suggesting that EuroJEM can be an effective tool for exposure assessment in large-scale European epidemiological studies. https://www.sjweh.fi/article/4203 job exposure matrixgendermusculoskeletal painharmonizationpredictive validityphysical workloadvalidationepidemiological studygender-specific european job exposure matrixeurojem |
| spellingShingle | Svetlana Solovieva Alexis Descatha Ingrid Sivesind Mehlum Eira Viikari-Juntura Karina Undem Karin Berglund Fabien Gilbert Francesca Wuytack Angelo d’Errico Kathryn Badarin Bradley Evanoff Katarina Kjellberg Development of a gender-specific European job exposure matrix (EuroJEM) for physical workload and its validation against musculoskeletal pain Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health job exposure matrix gender musculoskeletal pain harmonization predictive validity physical workload validation epidemiological study gender-specific european job exposure matrix eurojem |
| title | Development of a gender-specific European job exposure matrix (EuroJEM) for physical workload and its validation against musculoskeletal pain |
| title_full | Development of a gender-specific European job exposure matrix (EuroJEM) for physical workload and its validation against musculoskeletal pain |
| title_fullStr | Development of a gender-specific European job exposure matrix (EuroJEM) for physical workload and its validation against musculoskeletal pain |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development of a gender-specific European job exposure matrix (EuroJEM) for physical workload and its validation against musculoskeletal pain |
| title_short | Development of a gender-specific European job exposure matrix (EuroJEM) for physical workload and its validation against musculoskeletal pain |
| title_sort | development of a gender specific european job exposure matrix eurojem for physical workload and its validation against musculoskeletal pain |
| topic | job exposure matrix gender musculoskeletal pain harmonization predictive validity physical workload validation epidemiological study gender-specific european job exposure matrix eurojem |
| url |
https://www.sjweh.fi/article/4203
|
| work_keys_str_mv | AT svetlanasolovieva developmentofagenderspecificeuropeanjobexposurematrixeurojemforphysicalworkloadanditsvalidationagainstmusculoskeletalpain AT alexisdescatha developmentofagenderspecificeuropeanjobexposurematrixeurojemforphysicalworkloadanditsvalidationagainstmusculoskeletalpain AT ingridsivesindmehlum developmentofagenderspecificeuropeanjobexposurematrixeurojemforphysicalworkloadanditsvalidationagainstmusculoskeletalpain AT eiraviikarijuntura developmentofagenderspecificeuropeanjobexposurematrixeurojemforphysicalworkloadanditsvalidationagainstmusculoskeletalpain AT karinaundem developmentofagenderspecificeuropeanjobexposurematrixeurojemforphysicalworkloadanditsvalidationagainstmusculoskeletalpain AT karinberglund developmentofagenderspecificeuropeanjobexposurematrixeurojemforphysicalworkloadanditsvalidationagainstmusculoskeletalpain AT fabiengilbert developmentofagenderspecificeuropeanjobexposurematrixeurojemforphysicalworkloadanditsvalidationagainstmusculoskeletalpain AT francescawuytack developmentofagenderspecificeuropeanjobexposurematrixeurojemforphysicalworkloadanditsvalidationagainstmusculoskeletalpain AT angeloderrico developmentofagenderspecificeuropeanjobexposurematrixeurojemforphysicalworkloadanditsvalidationagainstmusculoskeletalpain AT kathrynbadarin developmentofagenderspecificeuropeanjobexposurematrixeurojemforphysicalworkloadanditsvalidationagainstmusculoskeletalpain AT bradleyevanoff developmentofagenderspecificeuropeanjobexposurematrixeurojemforphysicalworkloadanditsvalidationagainstmusculoskeletalpain AT katarinakjellberg developmentofagenderspecificeuropeanjobexposurematrixeurojemforphysicalworkloadanditsvalidationagainstmusculoskeletalpain |