Effects of a workplace exercise program on physical capacity and lower back symptoms in hospital nursing assistants: a randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE: Considering the relevance of muscle strength for sustaining good musculoskeletal health among workers who perform physically demanding work, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a therapeutic exercise program on muscle strength and low back symptoms among hospital nursing assistants. METHODS: One hundred and twenty-nine nursing assistants filled out a questionnaire on personal, occupational information and health status, which allowed the identification of workers able to exercise. Ninety participants were randomly allocated to an intervention and a reference group. The therapeutic exercise program (TEP) lasted 12 weeks and included warm-up, strengthening and stretching exercises. Muscle strength of trunk flexors and trunk extensors, hamstring flexibility, and low back symptoms were evaluated before and after the intervention period by two blinded assessors. The comparison between groups was carried out using Mann-Whitney and χ2 tests at a significance level of 0.05. RESULTS: The average participation in the exercise program was 17.5 sessions. Results showed increased trunk flexors muscle strength (p = 0.002; effect size: 0.77), improved pressure pain threshold for dorsal longissimus (p = 0.001; effect size > 0.8), and reduced low back symptoms (p = 0.002; OR = 6.25). No differences between groups were identified for back extensor muscle strength or flexibility. CONCLUSION: The exercise program applied is a feasible intervention which resulted clinically relevant results for nursing assistants' musculoskeletal health expressed through trunk flexors muscle strength improvement and low back symptoms control among nursing assistants. This RCT brings contribution to the Occupational Health field as the exercise program applied resulted in clinically relevant results for nursing assistants' musculoskeletal health. This study brings contribution especially for low-income and middle-income countries where low back pain and disability can be considered more severe as adequate resources to address the problem are scarce. Thus, we must highlight the importance of low-cost preventive strategies, like exercise programs carried out in hospital settings to avoid the progress of disability among active nursing personnel.

An Instrumented Workstation to Evaluate Weight-Bearing Distribution in the Sitting Posture.

BACKGROUND: Sitting posture may be related to risk factors, including inadequate weight-bearing support, particularly when maintained for long periods. Considering that body weight is loaded in a closed support system composed of the seat, backrest, floor and working surface, the aims of the present study were to describe the development of an ergonomic sitting workstation to continuously record weight-bearing at the seat, chair, backrest, work surface, and floor and to test its measurement properties: reproducibility, criterion-related validity, and sensitivity. METHODS: Rigid bodies (1 to 30 kg) and participant weights were recorded to evaluate the workstation measurement properties. RESULTS: Rigid body tests showed variation values less than 0.050 kg on reproducibility test and errors below 5% of measured value on criterion validity tests. Participant tests showed no statistically significant differences between repeated measures (p ≥ 0.40), errors were less than 2% of participant weights and sensitivity presented statistically significant changes (p = 0.007). CONCLUSION: The sitting workstation proposed showed to be reliable, valid and sensitive for use in future ergonomic studies to evaluate the sitting posture.

A comparison between flexible electrogoniometers, inclinometers and three-dimensional video analysis system for recording neck movement.

This study compared neck range of movement recording using three different methods goniometers (EGM), inclinometers (INC) and a three-dimensional video analysis system (IMG) in simultaneous and synchronized data collection. Twelve females performed neck flexion-extension, lateral flexion, rotation and circumduction. The differences between EGM, INC, and IMG were calculated sample by sample. For flexion-extension movement, IMG underestimated the amplitude by 13%; moreover, EGM showed a crosstalk of about 20% for lateral flexion and rotation axes. In lateral flexion movement, all systems showed similar amplitude and the inter-system differences were moderate (4-7%). For rotation movement, EGM showed a high crosstalk (13%) for flexion-extension axis. During the circumduction movement, IMG underestimated the amplitude of flexion-extension movements by about 11%, and the inter-system differences were high (about 17%) except for INC-IMG regarding lateral flexion (7%) and EGM-INC regarding flexion-extension (10%). For application in workplace, INC presents good results compared to IMG and EGM though INC cannot record rotation. EGM should be improved in order to reduce its crosstalk errors and allow recording of the full neck range of movement. Due to non-optimal positioning of the cameras for recording flexion-extension, IMG underestimated the amplitude of these movements.

Evaluation of workload among industrial workers with the Need for Recovery Scale.

BACKGROUND: Work conditions can overload a worker's capabilities and result in health complaints. The early identification of hazardous work conditions allows the definition of priorities for more efficient ergonomic interventions. OBJECTIVES: To assess the need for recovery among industrial workers under different work conditions using the Need for Recovery Scale (NFR), and to verify the association between the scores and personal factors, occupational factors and daily activities. METHODS: 191 workers (mean age of 34.5±8.3 years) from a manufactory industry participated in this study. Workers answered both a questionnaire regarding demographic and occupational factors, and daily activities as well as the NFR. Ergonomic assessment of workplace sectors was carried out based on the Ergonomic Workplace Analysis. The Pearson chi-square test (significance level 5%) was used to verify the association between NFR scores and the variables of interest. RESULTS: The only association was between work sector and NFR score. According to the ergonomic assessment, the work sector with the highest need for recovery also presented the worst environmental and organizational conditions. CONCLUSIONS: The Need for Recovery Scale proved to be a helpful tool for differentiating work sectors presenting different workload demands and contributed to the definition of intervention priorities for preserving worker health.

Evaluation of workload among industrial workers with the Need for Recovery Scale / Sobrecarga em trabalhadores da indústria avaliada por meio da escala de necessidade de descanso

BACKGROUND: Work conditions can overload a worker's capabilities and result in health complaints. The early identification of hazardous work conditions allows the definition of priorities for more efficient ergonomic interventions. OBJECTIVES: To assess the need for recovery among industrial workers under different work conditions using the Need for Recovery Scale (NFR), and to verify the association between the scores and personal factors, occupational factors and daily activities. METHODS: 191 workers (mean age of 34.5±8.3 years) from a manufactory industry participated in this study. Workers answered both a questionnaire regarding demographic and occupational factors, and daily activities as well as the NFR. Ergonomic assessment of workplace sectors was carried out based on the Ergonomic Workplace Analysis. The Pearson chi-square test (significance level 5 percent) was used to verify the association between NFR scores and the variables of interest. Results: The only association was between work sector and NFR score. According to the ergonomic assessment, the work sector with the highest need for recovery also presented the worst environmental and organizational conditions. Conclusions: The Need for Recovery Scale proved to be a helpful tool for differentiating work sectors presenting different workload demands and contributed to the definition of intervention priorities for preserving worker health.

CONTEXTUALIZAÇÃO:As condições de trabalho podem gerar demandas excessivas e comprometer a saúde dos trabalhadores. A identificação precoce de condições críticas de trabalho permite determinar prioridades para intervenções preventivas e aumentar as chances de maior eficácia dessas medidas. OBJETIVOS: Avaliar a necessidade de descanso para trabalhadores industriais submetidos a diferentes condições de trabalho utilizando a Escala de Necessidade de Descanso (ENEDE) e verificar a associação de seus resultados com fatores pessoais, ocupacionais e de hábitos cotidianos desses trabalhadores. MÉTODOS:Participaram do estudo 191 trabalhadores (média de idade de 34,5±8,3 anos) de uma indústria de transformação de madeira. Os trabalhadores responderam a um questionário sobre dados demográficos, ocupacionais e de aspectos de vida cotidiana e à ENEDE. Realizou-se avaliação ergonômica dos setores de trabalho com base no protocolo Ergonomic Workplace Analysis. O teste qui-quadrado de Pearson a 5 por cento de significância foi utilizado para verificar associação entre a pontuação obtida pela ENEDE e os fatores avaliados. RESULTADOS:Os resultados mostraram que houve associação apenas entre o setor de trabalho e as pontuações da ENEDE. Segundo a avaliação ergonômica, o setor que apresentou maior necessidade de descanso também apresentou piores condições de trabalho quanto a aspectos ambientais e organizacionais. Conclusões: A escala para avaliação da necessidade de descanso mostrou-se um instrumento útil para diferenciar setores de trabalho com diferentes níveis de exigências e contribuir para a definição de prioridades de intervenção para a preservação da saúde de trabalhadores industriais.