Upper Extremity Problems in Doner Kebab Masters

[Purpose] Doner kebab is a food specific to Turkey; it is a cone-shaped meat placed vertically on a high stand. The doner kebab chefs stand against the meat and cut it by using both of their upper extremities. This work style may lead to recurrent trauma and correspondingly the upper extremity problems. The aim of this study was to investigate the upper extremity disorders of doner chefs. [Subjects and Methods] Doner kebab chefs were selected as the study group, and volunteers who were not doner kebab chefs and didn’t exert intense effort with upper extremities their business lives were selected as the control group. A survey form was prepared to obtain data about the participants’ ages, working experience (years), daily work hours, work at a second job, diseases, drug usage, and any musculoskeletal (lasting at least 1 week) complaint in last 6 months. [Results] A total of 164 individuals participated in the study, 82 doner chefs and 82 volunteers. In 20.6% of the study group and 15.6% of the control group, an upper extremity musculoskeletal system disorder was detected. Lateral epicondylitis was more frequently statistically significant in the work group. [Conclusion] Hand pain and lateral epicondylitis are more frequent in doner chefs than in other forms of business.