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Comparison of the working postures between male and female workers when using different information technology devices
WCPT Congress 2015 / Physiotherapy 2015; Volume 101, Supplement 1 eS26–eS426
p = 0.052, HADS-Anxiety: Beta = 0.50, p = 0.069), after adjusting for patients’ age, gender, race, NRS at first visit, and previous history of LBP. Patients with higher HADSDepression score at first visit reported higher RMDQ scores at both 3 (Beta = 0.67, p = 0.049) and 6-months (Beta = 0.68, p = 0.044). HADS did not affect patients’ NRS at followup. The other psychosocial screening factors studied did not demonstrate a significant finding. Internal consistency by cronbach’s alpha for FABQ, HADS, BBQ, TSK and RMDQ, in patients with acute LBP in Singapore was 0.78, 0.91, 0.80, 0.80 and 0.89 respectively. Conclusion(s): HADS-Depression appears to be most able to predict poorer function at 3 and 6-months. Future work should focus on coming up with a quick screening tool for use in the Asian population to identify patients with a distressed psychosocial profile who may be at risk of developing chronic LBP. Implications: Screening for, and addressing depression in patients with acute LBP in Singapore, may prevent its progression to chronicity. Keywords: Psychosocial; Predictors; Singapore Funding acknowledgements: This study was not funded. Ethics approval: The study has been reviewed by the NHG Domain Specific Review Board, Singapore for ethics approval. (Reference number: 2012/00947). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physio.2015.03.423 Research Report Poster Presentation Number: RR-PO-12-19-Mon Monday 4 May 2015 12:15 Exhibit halls 401–403 COMPARISON OF THE WORKING POSTURES BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE WORKERS WHEN USING DIFFERENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEVICES C.-Y. Cho, S. Ling National Cheng Kung University, Physical Therapy, Tainan, Taiwan Background: Previous studies have shown a high prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms among computer users. However, past studies mainly focused on computer users only, to our knowledge, no study has examined the cumulative effect of time on postures when using smartphone. There were also few studies conducted to compare the gender difference on postures for the smartphone users. We believe that daily intensive use of the smartphone may contribute to a poor posture and increase the risk to obtain musculoskeletal symptoms. Purpose: The present study aims to compare the working postures between male and female workers when they were using different information technology devices. The
eS245
researchers also want to evaluate the effect of time and condition on their working postures. Methods: Twenty females and twenty males were recruited. The National Cheng Kung University Hospital IRB has approved this study, and all the participants signed a consent form before participation. During the experiment, the participants were requested to perform computer texting and smartphone texting with the adjusted chair and desk to match their anthropometry. Each task lasted for thirty minutes. Six motion capture cameras were used to catch head, neck and upper extremity postures during computer and smartphone tasks. Three-way ANOVA with repeated measures on condition and time factors were used for postural data analysis. The significant level was set at p < 0.05. Results: The analysis revealed that there was a significant main effect on gender (p < 0.001) and gender-condition interaction (p < 0.05) for the neck flexion angle. As compared to the computer use, both groups had a greater neck flexion angle during the smartphone use. Besides, the male participants increased their neck flexion angle more significantly during the smartphone use. Significant condition effects were found for most of the variables except for the wrist deviation angle. A significant time effect was found for the elbow flexion angle (p < 0.01) and condition-time interactions (p < 0.05) were found for both head flexion and elbow flexion angles. Conclusion(s): Our results indicated that male participants had a more flexed neck posture than females, especially during smartphone use. Cumulative time effects on postures were more significant for the head and elbow flexion angles than other angles. Implications: The results suggested that the male participants might be at a higher risk of musculoskeletal symptoms than females since they had a more flexed neck posture. Prolonged use of the information technology devices may lead to more extreme postures, especially for head and elbow flexion. Future studies on smartphone users should consider the effect of gender on postures and include kinetic data for further analysis. Keywords: Smartphone use; Postures; Gender Funding acknowledgements: Many thanks for the grant support from The Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan: NSC 102-2629-B-006-001. Ethics approval: National Cheng Kung University Hospital IRB. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physio.2015.03.424
p = 0.052, HADS-Anxiety: Beta = 0.50, p = 0.069), after adjusting for patients’ age, gender, race, NRS at first visit, and previous history of LBP. Patients with higher HADSDepression score at first visit reported higher RMDQ scores at both 3 (Beta = 0.67, p = 0.049) and 6-months (Beta = 0.68, p = 0.044). HADS did not affect patients’ NRS at followup. The other psychosocial screening factors studied did not demonstrate a significant finding. Internal consistency by cronbach’s alpha for FABQ, HADS, BBQ, TSK and RMDQ, in patients with acute LBP in Singapore was 0.78, 0.91, 0.80, 0.80 and 0.89 respectively. Conclusion(s): HADS-Depression appears to be most able to predict poorer function at 3 and 6-months. Future work should focus on coming up with a quick screening tool for use in the Asian population to identify patients with a distressed psychosocial profile who may be at risk of developing chronic LBP. Implications: Screening for, and addressing depression in patients with acute LBP in Singapore, may prevent its progression to chronicity. Keywords: Psychosocial; Predictors; Singapore Funding acknowledgements: This study was not funded. Ethics approval: The study has been reviewed by the NHG Domain Specific Review Board, Singapore for ethics approval. (Reference number: 2012/00947). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physio.2015.03.423 Research Report Poster Presentation Number: RR-PO-12-19-Mon Monday 4 May 2015 12:15 Exhibit halls 401–403 COMPARISON OF THE WORKING POSTURES BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE WORKERS WHEN USING DIFFERENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEVICES C.-Y. Cho, S. Ling National Cheng Kung University, Physical Therapy, Tainan, Taiwan Background: Previous studies have shown a high prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms among computer users. However, past studies mainly focused on computer users only, to our knowledge, no study has examined the cumulative effect of time on postures when using smartphone. There were also few studies conducted to compare the gender difference on postures for the smartphone users. We believe that daily intensive use of the smartphone may contribute to a poor posture and increase the risk to obtain musculoskeletal symptoms. Purpose: The present study aims to compare the working postures between male and female workers when they were using different information technology devices. The
eS245
researchers also want to evaluate the effect of time and condition on their working postures. Methods: Twenty females and twenty males were recruited. The National Cheng Kung University Hospital IRB has approved this study, and all the participants signed a consent form before participation. During the experiment, the participants were requested to perform computer texting and smartphone texting with the adjusted chair and desk to match their anthropometry. Each task lasted for thirty minutes. Six motion capture cameras were used to catch head, neck and upper extremity postures during computer and smartphone tasks. Three-way ANOVA with repeated measures on condition and time factors were used for postural data analysis. The significant level was set at p < 0.05. Results: The analysis revealed that there was a significant main effect on gender (p < 0.001) and gender-condition interaction (p < 0.05) for the neck flexion angle. As compared to the computer use, both groups had a greater neck flexion angle during the smartphone use. Besides, the male participants increased their neck flexion angle more significantly during the smartphone use. Significant condition effects were found for most of the variables except for the wrist deviation angle. A significant time effect was found for the elbow flexion angle (p < 0.01) and condition-time interactions (p < 0.05) were found for both head flexion and elbow flexion angles. Conclusion(s): Our results indicated that male participants had a more flexed neck posture than females, especially during smartphone use. Cumulative time effects on postures were more significant for the head and elbow flexion angles than other angles. Implications: The results suggested that the male participants might be at a higher risk of musculoskeletal symptoms than females since they had a more flexed neck posture. Prolonged use of the information technology devices may lead to more extreme postures, especially for head and elbow flexion. Future studies on smartphone users should consider the effect of gender on postures and include kinetic data for further analysis. Keywords: Smartphone use; Postures; Gender Funding acknowledgements: Many thanks for the grant support from The Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan: NSC 102-2629-B-006-001. Ethics approval: National Cheng Kung University Hospital IRB. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physio.2015.03.424