Objective: Hand function, an important component of daily functioning, declines with age, yet the degree to which occupation modifies such declines is largely unknown.
Methods: Older adults (≥65) completed an online cross-sectional survey containing a standardized hand function questionnaire, occupation-related questions, and demographic information. Participants were then categorized by their longest-held occupation as blue collar or white collar.
Results: Hand impairments were more common in the blue collar group (51.5% vs 28.9%, P < 0.05). Odds ratios indicated that blue collar workers were 2.71 times more likely to report hand impairments in older adulthood than white collar workers.
Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated strong associations between occupation type and hand function, underscoring the importance of implementing hand-specific preventative workplace measures and highlighting the need to consider additional risk factors for hand impairments, including occupation, during routine clinical exams.
Keywords: aging; blue collar; hand impairment; upper limb; white collar.
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