Environmental and Organizational Factors Associated with Elbow/Forearm and Hand/Wrist Disorder among Sewing Machine Operators of Garment Industry in Ethiopia
Table 6
Multivariate analysis for factors associated with elbow/forearm MS disorders among sewing machine operators in Galan City, Oromia Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia, 2012.
Category of variables
Elbow/forearm disorder
Yes (%)
No (%)
COR (95% CI)
AOR (95% CI)
Sex
Male
34 (65.4)
18 (34.6)
3.2 (1.6–5.5)
1.8 (1.7–4.8)**
Female
135 (36.5)
235 (63.5)
1.00
1.00
Educational level
Illiterate
17 (37.8)
28 (62.2)
0.55 (0.23–1.29)
Primary school
59 (43.7)
76 (56.3)
0.70 (0.35–1.41)
Secondary school
71 (35.5)
129 (64.5)
0.50 (0.25–0.97)
Higher education
22 (52.4)
20 (47.6)
1.00
Monthly salary
<700 ETB (<35.5 US dollar)
34 (24.6)
104 (75.4)
0.17 (0.07–0.39)
0.21 (0.08–0.54)*
700–900 ETB (35.5–45.5 US dollar)
114 (45.2)
138 (54.8)
0.43 (0.20–0.93)
0.47 (0.19–1.13)
>900 ETB (>45.5 US dollar)
21 (65.6)
11 (34.4)
1.00
1.00
Year of service in garment
1–5 years
93 (34.5)
177 (65.5)
1.00
1.00
6–10 years
52 (44.1)
66 (55.9)
1.50 (0.96–2.32)
1.04 (0.64–1.70)
11–15 years
6 (54.5)
5 (45.4)
2.28 (0.67–7.68)
1.50 (0.39–5.77)
≥16 years
18 (78.3)
5 (21.7)
6.85 (2.46–19.04)
4.70 (1.55–13.02)**
Physical activities
None
141 (39.8)
213 (60.1)
1.48 (0.63–3.51)
5.02 (1.57–16.05)*
Once per week
17 (58.6)
12 (41.4)
3.18 (1.04–9.70)
5.54 (1.46–21.00)*
Two times per week
3 (23.0)
10 (76.9)
0.67 (0.14–3.13)
0.59 (0.10–3.49)
≥3 times per week
8 (30.8)
18 (69.2)
1.00
1.00
Medical history of systemic illness
Yes
30 (46.2)
35 (53.8)
2.03 (1.07–3.85)
No
139 (38.9)
218 (61.1)
1.00
Employment status
Temporary
16 (64.0)
9 (36.0)
2.83 (1.22–6.37)
Permanent
153 (38.5)
244 (61.5)
1.00
Payment method
Hourly payment
111 (35.5)
202 (64.5)
1.00
1.00
Piece rate payment
58 (53.2)
51 (46.8)
2.07 (1.33–3.21)
2.01 (1.23–3.28)*
Training on issue of ergonomics
Yes
11 (64.7)
6 (35.3)
1.00
No
158 (39.1)
247 (60.9)
2.86 (1.04–7.90)
AOR: adjusted odds ratio, COR: crude odd ratio, ETB: Ethiopian Birr, US: United States, value < 0.05, value < 0.001.
