The effect of age and gender on joint range of motion of worker population in Taiwan

Joint range of motion (ROM) data are very important references in job and workplace design as well as in clinical diagnosis. Many factors have been reported to have influence on joint ROM. This study aims to establish a database of joint ROM for worker population in Taiwan and to evaluate the effect of age and gender on joint ROM. Total 1134 workers including 698 males and 436 females with age ranging from 16 to 64 years old participated in this study. A total of 28 joint ROMs were measured by using a motion analysis system. A two-stage nested design was employed to evaluate the effect of age and gender on joint ROM. The results demonstrate that joint ROM decreased with the increase of age, especially in cervical spine and wrist joint, and the largest decline was about 26%. In addition, female workers showed greater joint ROM than male workers in cervical spine, upper extremity, and lower extremity joints. Further discussions are addressed. Relevance to industry: Different age and gender groups tend to have different capability in joint mobility. The findings of this study can provide very useful information for the job and workplace design, and to enhance the quality of working life for aging workers. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.