Introduction: Shoulder pain arising from an occupational origin is among the main causes for disability and prolonged absence from the workplace, with a secondary reduction of work productivity. It has become a growing and universal issue that affects different employment sectors; identification of risk factors allows the introduction of more effective preventative measures, with the aim of reducing incidence and to help detect and manage existing cases in an earlier and more effective way.Objective: To identify the occupational risk factors most frequently encountered in the workplace, which can give rise to shoulder pain in exposed work groups.Methodology and References: A bibliographic review of scientific literature published in PubMed, SpringerLink and WoS, for the period between 2012 and 2022, was carried out for research published in English and Spanish, using a combination of relevant key words queried in DeCS employing a search strategy in the databases with terms MeSH, Boolean operators, links and key words. The PICO methodology was used, including the variables shoulder pain and physical, personal, occupational, and psychosocial risk factors.Results: 22 studies were identified for inclusion; 7 cross-sectional studies, 5 prospective studies, 5 longitudinal studies, 3 cohort studies, a retrospective observational study and a case report were evaluated for the quality of their methodology. An exposure-response relationship was found in various high-quality studies by relating exposure to physical, psycho-social and organisational risk factors with the appearance of pain/discomfort of the shoulder. Age was the main non-modifiable risk factor associated with shoulder pain. The modifiable risk factors included working in awkward positions, working with arms at shoulder level or above, lifting heavy objects, high psychological stress at work, organisational factors such as the rate of work linked to automatic processes, all factors frequently associated with shoulder pain. Conclusion: Working with arms at or above shoulder level, the amount of effort required to perform the work, awkward postures and high psycho-social work demands are associated with the appearance of shoulder disorders.
