Temperature gradient changes on the surface of the skin or in the middle of the body are signs of a disease. The aim of this study is to develop quantitative models for the prediction of cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs) arising from highly repetitive activities, considering risk factors, such as age, gender, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), respiratory rate (RR), and heart rate, to prevent injuries in manufacturing factory operators. This research involved 19 individuals from the area of sanding and 14 individuals from the area of tolex in manufacturing factories who had their vital signs and somatometry taken, as well as thermal images of their hands in the dorsal and palmar areas; an evaluation by the OCRA method was also applied. Factors such as BP and heart rate were determined to significantly influence the injuries, but no strong association with BMI was found. Quadratic regression models were developed, the estimates of which were adequately adjusted to the variable (R2 and R2 adjusted > 0.70). When integrating the factors of the OCRA method to the generated models, a better fit was obtained (R2 and adjusted R2 > 0.80). In conclusion, the participants who present levels out of the normal range in at least one of the factors have high probabilities of developing injuries in their wrists.
Keywords: age; blood pressure; body mass index; carpal tunnel syndrome; cumulative trauma disorder; gender; heart rate; infrared thermography; respiratory rate.