The purpose of this study was to estimate mean pressure thresholds over several skeletal muscles, grip and pinch strengths in female telephone operators.

Pressure thresholds on muscles of neck and shoulder were measured with a pressure algometer, and grip and pinch strength were measured with a Jamar dynamometer and a Jamar pinch gauge in 904 female telephone operators.

The pressure threshold was highest in the supraspinatus and lowest in the cervical paraspinals. There was no statistically significant difference between right and left corresponding muscles. The mean grip strength was 22.29 kg in the right hand, 21.97 kg in the left hand. The mean tip pinch strength was 0.56 kg in the right, 0.51 kg in the left. The mean lateral pinch strength was 2.21 kg in the right, 2.12 kg in the left. The mean palmar pinch strength was 1.82 kg in the right, 1.66 kg in the left.

There was no significant correlation between grip, pinch strength and age(p＞0.05). There were positive correlations between height, weight and grip strength. There were positive correlations between exposure duration to visual display terminal and pinch strength.