Does Prolonged Standing at Work Among Teachers Associated With Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs)?

@#In order to accomplish a wide range of duties and responsibilities that may be done under unpleasant working conditions, prolonged standing posture is common with school teachers. Nevertheless, standing upright for a long time or otherwise regarded as prolonged standing frequently contributes to body pain and discomfort, muscle fatigue and even health problems such as musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The aim of this paper is to review MSDs arising from prolonged standing and spread information on existing ergonomic and non-ergonomic interventions to alleviate prolonged standing discomfort. Systematic review on prolonged standing school teachers with specific keywords were recognized to discover the appropriate studies and information in a systematic search. The informations in this review may be helpful to guide teacher, school management and researchers to implement the suitable interventions in order to minimise the health issue due to MSDs among school teachers.

Factores de riesgo ocupacional asociados a las várices en extremidades inferiores / Occupational risk factors associated a varicose veins in lower extremities

INTRODUCCIÓN: las varices en extremidades inferiores tienen un origen multifactorial, sin embargo se relaciona las altas prevalencias de ésta patología a factores de tipo ocupacional como la bipedestación y la sedestación prolongada, por el efecto de la gravedad que favorecería a la hipertensión venosa en extremidades inferiores. OBJETIVO: determinar los factores de riesgo ocupacionales asociados a las várices en extremidades inferiores. MATERIALES Y MÉTODOS: estudio de casos y controles, que se realizó en el Hospital Obrero de la Caja Nacional de Salud en La Paz - Bolivia, con un tamaño de muestra de 82 pacientes que se dividieron en dos grupos que correspondió a 41 casos y 41 controles, el tipo de muestreo fue no probabilístico. El análisis estadístico se realizó en el paquete estadístico IBM SPSS stadistics 19. RESULTADOS: en el análisis multivariado se encontró que la bipedestación prolongada tuvo ORa de 1,86 (IC95%: 0,57 - 6,01), la sedestación prolongada ORa de 0,14 (IC95%: 0,03 - 0,58), el uso de prendas que comprimen localmente las extremidades inferiores o incrementan la presión intraabdominal (ligueros, medias, ligas, corsé, faja, etc) obtuvo ORa de 12,12 (IC95%: 2,95 - 49,80). CONCLUSIÓN: se deben implementar medidas de prevención en los lugares de trabajo para disminuir el factor de riesgo que se asocia a las varices en extremidades inferiores como el uso de prendas de vestir que incrementan la presión intraabdominal o comprimen localmente las extremidades inferiores.

INTRODUCTION: varicose veins in lower extremities have a multifactorial origin, however the high prevalence of this disease is related to occupational factors such as prolonged standing and sitting position because the effect of gravity would favor venous hypertension in the lower extremities. OBJECTIVE: to determine the occupational risk factors associated with varicose veins in lower extremities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: case-control study, conducted at the hospital Obrero of the Caja Nacional de Salud in La Paz - Bolivia, with sample size of 82 patients, divided in two groups of 41 cases and 41 controls, the sampling was non-probabilistic. Statistical analysis was performed in the statistical package SPSS Stadistics 19. RESULTS: multivariate analysis found that prolonged standing had aOR: 1.86 (95% CI: 0.57 - 6.01), the prolonged sitting aOR of 0.14 (95% CI: 0.03 - 0.58), the wearing of locally compress the lower extremities or increased intra-abdominal pressure (suspenders, stockings, garters, corset, girdle, etc.) obtained aOR: 12.12 (95% CI: 2.95-49.80). CONCLUSION: should implement prevention measures in workplaces to reduce the risk factor that is associated with varicose veins in lower extremities such as the use of clothing that increase intra-abdominal pressure or locally compress the lower extremities.

Development of a Decision Support System for Analysis and Solutions of Prolonged Standing in the Workplace

BACKGROUND: Prolonged standing has been hypothesized as a vital contributor to discomfort and muscle fatigue in the workplace. The objective of this study was to develop a decision support system that could provide systematic analysis and solutions to minimize the discomfort and muscle fatigue associated with prolonged standing. METHODS: The integration of object-oriented programming and a Model Oriented Simultaneous Engineering System were used to design the architecture of the decision support system. RESULTS: Validation of the decision support system was carried out in two manufacturing companies. The validation process showed that the decision support system produced reliable results. CONCLUSION: The decision support system is a reliable advisory tool for providing analysis and solutions to problems related to the discomfort and muscle fatigue associated with prolonged standing. Further testing of the decision support system is suggested before it is used commercially.

Causation between occupational prolonged standing time during progestation and pregnancy related complications / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To describe the epidemiological characteristics of profession related long-standing behavior during preconception and progestation,and to probe the relationship between prolonged standing jobs and the common pregnancy related complications among pregnant women,in Ma' anshan city,Anhui province.Methods In this cohort study,subjects who had their first antenatal examination at Ma' anshan Maternal and Child Care Centers were recruited under informed consent,from October 2008 to October 2010.All the information were collected through questionnaires in the first,second and third trimesters respectively.Three questionnaires were filled in by subjects under the guidance of healthcare takers.Results In the study,the 754 percentile of prolonged-standing times were 4.0 h/d and 3.0 h/d respectively in preconception and progestation.The characteristics of pregnant women with low social/economic status,prone to be involved in stand-long occupation.Results in logistic regression analysis,prolonged-standing jobs during preconception was the risk factor of pregnancy-induced hypertension and severe anemia.The adjusted odds ratios were 2.05 (95％CI:1.26-3.31) and 1.38 (95％CI:1.03-1.85) respectively.Conclusion Prolonged standing jobs appeared to be common occupational exposure to and risks of both pregnant woman and their fetus.Exposure to these kinds of jobs during preconception could increase the risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension and severe anemia.In order to promote maternal health programs,all the related occupational risk factors should be valued and avoided during preconception and pregnancy.

Assessment of Muscle Fatigue Associated with Prolonged Standing in the Workplace

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to determine the psychological fatigue and analyze muscle activity of production workers who are performing processes jobs while standing for prolonged time periods. METHODS: The psychological fatigue experienced by the workers was obtained through questionnaire surveys. Meanwhile, muscle activity has been analyzed using surface electromyography (sEMG) measurement. Lower extremities muscles include: erector spinae, tibialis anterior, and gastrocnemius were concurrently measured for more than five hours of standing. Twenty male production workers in a metal stamping company participated as subjects in this study. The subjects were required to undergo questionnaire surveys and sEMG measurement. RESULTS: Results of the questionnaire surveys found that all subjects experienced psychological fatigue due to prolonged standing jobs. Similarly, muscle fatigue has been identified through sEMG measurement. Based on the non-parametric statistical test using the Spearman's rank order correlation, the left erector spinae obtained a moderate positive correlation and statistically significant (rs = 0.552, p < 0.05) between the results of questionnaire surveys and sEMG measurement. CONCLUSION: Based on this study, the authors concluded that prolonged standing was contributed to psychological fatigue and to muscle fatigue among the production workers.