The purpose of this study was to characterize work-related cases of hand injury admitted to the Hand Therapy sector of Maria Amélia Lins Hospital in Belo Horizonte, MG. Medical charts of 711 patients having attended the sector between January, 2004 and December, 2005 were reviewed; 238 were found to be of patients with work-related injuries, of which 87% were male, mean age 34 years old (sd=10.64). In 45% of the sample the right side of the body was injured and most cases showed impairment at the non-dominant side (52%). Workers in maintenance/overhaul (35%), and in trade and services (33%) had greater accident indices; machinery was the major causal agent (57%). Tendon (29%) and bone (23%) were the most frequently injured structures, fingers (73%) and hands (18%) being specially affected. Most patients (80%) took between 2 to 60 days post-accident to start rehabilitation and treatment median duration was 55 days. Associations between patients' occupation and causal agent, and between occupation and injured structure were significant (p<0.05), as well as those between causal agent and injured structure, and between injured structure and lag of time between injury and the onset of rehabilitation. Type of injury and causal agent were associated with rehabilitation time, but they explained only 6.7% of the variance. Such features of work-related hand injuries should be taken into account in prevention planning and for improving health services.
Accidents, occupational; Accidents, occupational; Hand injuries; Occupational health services
