Table 1

Characteristics of study groups

Characteristics
Cases
Referents

Gender, n (%)


     Female
15 (83%)
17 (85%)
     Male
3 (17%)
3 (15%)



Age, years, mean (min-max)
43.0 (25.5–53.4)
43.8 (28.4–55.2)
Body mass index, kg/m2, mean (min-max)
24.6 (30.7–19.3)
23.6 (34.6–19.5)
Smoking, n (%)


     Never smoking
8 (44%)
12 (60%)
     Ex-smoker
7 (39%)
4 (20%)
     Current smoker
3 (17%)
4 (20%)



Leisure time physical activity, n (%)


     Less than 2 hours/week
5 (28%)
4 (20%)
     2–4 hours/week
8 (44%)
10 (50%)
     More than 4 hours/week
5 (28%)
6 (20%)



Working conditions1, mean (SD)


     Work hours/week
37.0 (5.0)
35.5 (3.3)
     Computer use, hours/week
28.6 (5.7)
23.9 (9.3)
     Mouse use, hours/week
22.0 (11.1)
18.9 (12.8)



Wrist extension force, mean (SD)


     Maximal voluntary contraction (Newton)
107.9 (51.5)
110.1 (32.6)
Stimulation current (mA), mean (SD)
40.1 (4.9)
39.6 (3.1)
Twitch force at baseline (Newton), mean (SD)
2.32 (1.63)
2.27 (1.56)

1Self reported, questionnaire

Thomsen et al. Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology 2007 2:17   doi:10.1186/1745-6673-2-17