Effects of Sociodemographic Factors on the Stage of Behavior Change Among Employees of Small to Medium Sized Enterprises / 대한산업의학회지

OBJECTIVES: This research attempts to investigate the relationship between health risk factors and workers'behavioral changes based on individual worker's characteristics to allow the development of more effective health promotion programs in businesses places. METHODS: A questionnaire survey was conducted with 282 workers employed in small to medium sized enterprises in the Kyong-in area of Korea. The questionnaire was composed of general characteristics, a health risk assessment and an evaluation of the stage of behavior change for health promotion strategy in the workplace. RESULTS: The health risk assessment revealed that 65.7 % of male workers smoke, 70.5% of male workers do not exercise on a regular basis, 86.1 % of female workers do not exercise at all, and 78.6 % of male workers and 50 % of female workers drink alcohol. In addition, the survey identified that 29.5% of male workers are addicted to excessive drinking, as are 11.1% of female workers. Based on the four stages of behavioral changes that lead to health, the pre-contemplation stage, contemplation stage, action stage, and maintenance stage, 40.5 %, 23.7 %, 12.1 % and 23.7 % of workers are in these stages, respectively, with regards to quitting smoking. As for regular exercises, 18.4 %, 37.6 %, 17.7 %, and 26.3 % of workers belong to each stage, respectively. As for moderation in drinking, 20.9 %, 15.4 %, 10.0 %, and 53.7 % are in each stage, respectively. The rate of health managers in the active stage of quitting smoking is significantly higher than that of general workers. Among the workers who do not exercise on a regular basis, workers over 50 years-old and blue color workers are more common in the precontemplation stage than any other worker groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that the stages of behavioral change vary with worker characteristics. An awareness of the effects of the high risk factors is essential for promoting workers'attendance in health promotion programs.

Measurement of Thoracolumbar Range of Motion by Motion Analyzer in Low Back Pain: Preliminary Study

Measurement of spinal range of motion(ROM) can be effectively used in guiding the direction of therapy, determining the patient's response to rehabilitation treatment and functional assessment. However for a method of measurement to be commonly used in clinical and research settings, it must be easy to perform, rapid and highly reliable. The purpose of this study was to determine the possibility of clinical application of 2-dimensional motion analysis system to measure spinal ROM in patients with low back pain(LBP). Subjects included 10 healthy males and 10 patients with LBP. Using Electronic Digital Inclinometer (EDI 320) and 2-dimensional motion analysis system, thoracic, lumbar and pelvic ROMs were measured for trunkal flexion, extension, lateral flexion and rotation. Also proportions of decreased ROMs in LBP patients relative to healthy subjects and movement patterns of each spinal segment according to time sequence were investigated. LBP patients compared to normal subjects showed significantly low spinal ROM(P<0.05) except thoracic and pelvic ROM for extension. When looking at the change of each spinal ROM in respect to time with motion analysis system, normal subjects showed synchronized and sigmoid motion curve time from the initiation to the end of motion in all areas of spine during 4 motions. LBP patients took longer time from the initiation to the end of each motion, and showed smaller initial change and fluctuation in spinal ROM during each motion compared to normal subjects. The results of this preliminary study suggest that 2-dimensional motion analysis system can be effectively used for measuring spinal ROM in patients with LBP.