TY - JOUR
T1 - Perceived musculoskeletal discomfort and its association with postural shifts during 4-h prolonged sitting in office workers
AU - Waongenngarm, Pooriput
AU - van der Beek, Allard J.
AU - Akkarakittichoke, Nipaporn
AU - Janwantanakul, Prawit
N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by Thailand Research Fund through the Royal Golden Jubilee Ph.D. Program ( PHD/0180/2558 ) and Industry Division ( RDG6050058 ). Srithai Auto Seats Industry Company Limited partially provided financial support with no interference on methodology, data collection, and data analysis of the study. Funding Information: This work was supported by Thailand Research Fund through the Royal Golden Jubilee Ph.D. Program (PHD/0180/2558) and Industry Division (RDG6050058). Srithai Auto Seats Industry Company Limited partially provided financial support with no interference on methodology, data collection, and data analysis of the study. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Elsevier Ltd Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/11
Y1 - 2020/11
N2 - This study examined the characteristics of perceived discomfort and postural shifts at different magnitudes during a 4-h sitting period and the association between perceived discomfort and number of postural shifts. Forty healthy participants continuously typed a standardized text passage at a computer work station for 4 h. Subjects rated perceived body discomfort using Borg's CR-10 scale in 10 body regions (i.e. neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist/hand, upper back, lower back, buttock, thigh, knee, and ankle/foot). A seat pressure mat device was used to gather seat pressure data during sitting. Postural shifts were determined by analysis of the dispersion index of both ischial tuberosities from seat pressure data. The threshold for a postural shift was set at ±10% and ±20%. Perceived discomfort in all body regions increased continuously during a 4-h sitting period. The body regions with the highest perceived discomfort were the low back, buttocks, upper back, thigh, and neck. The average (±SD) numbers of postural shifts during the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th hour of sitting were 14.8 ± 9.5, 17.8 ± 9.4, 18.2 ± 11.1, and 18.1 ± 9.8 shifts per hour for the 10% threshold, and were 4.8 ± 4.4, 6.0 ± 5.6, 7.4 ± 6.7, and 7.7 ± 6.6 shifts per hour for the 20% threshold, respectively. Prolonged sitting led to an increase in perceived musculoskeletal discomfort over time. The number of postural shifts at both magnitudes increased in the first 2 h of sitting and, in the second 2-h period of sitting, only the number of larger postural shifts (with 20% threshold) increased. The findings extend our understanding of sitting behaviors.
AB - This study examined the characteristics of perceived discomfort and postural shifts at different magnitudes during a 4-h sitting period and the association between perceived discomfort and number of postural shifts. Forty healthy participants continuously typed a standardized text passage at a computer work station for 4 h. Subjects rated perceived body discomfort using Borg's CR-10 scale in 10 body regions (i.e. neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist/hand, upper back, lower back, buttock, thigh, knee, and ankle/foot). A seat pressure mat device was used to gather seat pressure data during sitting. Postural shifts were determined by analysis of the dispersion index of both ischial tuberosities from seat pressure data. The threshold for a postural shift was set at ±10% and ±20%. Perceived discomfort in all body regions increased continuously during a 4-h sitting period. The body regions with the highest perceived discomfort were the low back, buttocks, upper back, thigh, and neck. The average (±SD) numbers of postural shifts during the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th hour of sitting were 14.8 ± 9.5, 17.8 ± 9.4, 18.2 ± 11.1, and 18.1 ± 9.8 shifts per hour for the 10% threshold, and were 4.8 ± 4.4, 6.0 ± 5.6, 7.4 ± 6.7, and 7.7 ± 6.6 shifts per hour for the 20% threshold, respectively. Prolonged sitting led to an increase in perceived musculoskeletal discomfort over time. The number of postural shifts at both magnitudes increased in the first 2 h of sitting and, in the second 2-h period of sitting, only the number of larger postural shifts (with 20% threshold) increased. The findings extend our understanding of sitting behaviors.
KW - Computers
KW - Low back pain
KW - Musculoskeletal disorders
KW - Office workers
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088902076&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2020.103225
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2020.103225
M3 - Article
C2 - 32755740
SN - 0003-6870
VL - 89
JO - Applied ergonomics
JF - Applied ergonomics
M1 - 103225
ER -