ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Hand usage and movement is routinely performed by all individuals daily irrespective of age. These movements can vary and can be repetitive in nature. Exposure of the hard and soft tissues of the hand to prolonged repetitive activities could contribute to the development of work related upper limb disorders (WRULD). OBJECTIVE: Within the work setting, work related upper limb disorders (WRULDs) rank high in the United Kingdom (UK), second only to back complaints. This paper reports the amount of tendon travel and swelling that occurs in the hand during repetitive office activities associated with WRULDs. PARTICIPANTS: Nine healthy adults (five males; four females) participated in the study. METHODS: A 30-minute laboratory-based simulated office activity that consisted of data entry, mouse clicking and dragging, and mouse scrolling tasks was performed. Participants wore a custom-made cost effective flexible electrogoniometric glove (FEG) as two experimental conditions were tested; namely, FEG - only, and FEG using a Splint (FEG - Splint). RESULTS: The FEG - only condition produced a higher overall tendon travel compared to the FEG - Splint condition. Both hands presented no statistically significant differences in hand temperature (p > 0.05) and hand volume increments (p > 0.05) with respect to the FEG - only and FEG - Splint office activity experiments. All participants that showed a decrease in hand volumetric measurement produced final temperature measurements lower than initial temperature measurements taken at the commencement of the experiment. Based on participants' perception, the mouse scrolling task was deemed as most strenuous. CONCLUSION: The findings can help to advise patients on biomechanical 'risks' associated with repetitive activities.
Subject(s)
Body Temperature Regulation , Carpal Tunnel Syndrome/prevention & control , Cumulative Trauma Disorders/prevention & control , Hand/physiology , Wrist Joint/physiopathology , Adult , Carpal Tunnel Syndrome/etiology , Computer Peripherals , Female , Healthy Volunteers , Humans , Incidence , Male , Movement/physiology , Occupational Diseases/prevention & control , Organ Size , Risk Assessment , Sampling Studies , Time Factors , United Kingdom , WorkplaceABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate slow and fast paced industrial activity hand repetitive movements associated with carpal tunnel syndrome where movements are evaluated based on finger and wrist tendon travel measurements. METHODS: Nine healthy subjects were recruited for the study aged between 23 and 33 years. Participants mimicked an industrial repetitive task by performing the following activities: wrist flexion and extension task, palm open and close task; and pinch task. Each task was performed for a period of 5 minutes at a slow (0.33 Hz) and fast (1 Hz) pace for a duration of 3 minutes and 2 minutes respectively. RESULTS: Tendon displacement produced higher flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS) tendon travel when compared to the flexor digitorum profundus (FDP) tendons. The left hand mean (SD) tendon travel for the FDS tendon and FDP tendon were 11108 (5188) mm and 9244 (4328) mm while the right hand mean tendon travel (SD) for the FDS tendon and FDP tendon were 9225 (3441) mm and 7670 (2856) mm respectively. Of the three tasks mimicking an industrial repetitive activity, the wrist flexion and extension task produced the most tendon travel. CONCLUSION: The findings may be useful to researchers in classifying the level of strenuous activity in relation to tendon travel.
Subject(s)
Cumulative Trauma Disorders/epidemiology , Finger Joint/physiology , Hand/physiology , Range of Motion, Articular/physiology , Task Performance and Analysis , Tendons/physiology , Wrist Joint/physiology , Adult , Analysis of Variance , Arthrometry, Articular/instrumentation , Biomechanical Phenomena , Carpal Tunnel Syndrome/complications , Cumulative Trauma Disorders/physiopathology , Female , Humans , Male , Scotland/epidemiology , Students/psychology , Students/statistics & numerical dataABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To compare two postural interventions, a wrist splint and a Wrist Alignment Device (WAD) with a biofeedback mechanism. PARTICIPANTS: Nine right-handed healthy individuals participated in the study. METHODS: Using both hands independently a 30-minute office-activity-experiment was performed that consisted of data entry, mouse clicking, text dragging, and mouse scrolling executed one after the other. Joint motion, tendon travel and productivity levels were measured. Participants wore a custom-made flexible electrogoniometric glove (FEG) as three scenarios were tested; namely FEG-only, FEG-Splint, and FEG-WAD. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA. RESULTS: The joint motion results produced insignificant differences (p>0.05) between hands. Both hands showed larger overall tendon travel for the FEG-only when compared with either FEG-Splint or FEG-WAD experiments. Wearing the splint reduced the overall tendon travel by 24% and 10% for the left and right hands while using the WAD further reduced the overall tendon travel for the left and right hands by 51% and 42%. Productivity levels were similar across participants with respect to experiment task and type. CONCLUSION: The WAD intervention is the most suitable device to promote a comfortable and non-restrictive neutral wrist posture.
