Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Mohamed Sherif Sirajudeen, Msaad Alzhrani, Ahmad Alanazi, Mazen Alqahtani, Mohamed Waly, Md. Dilshad Manzar, Fatma A. A. Hegazy, Muhammad Noh Zulfikri Mohd Jamali, Ravi Shankar Reddy, Venkata Nagaraj Kakaraparthi, Radhakrishnan Unnikrishnan, Hariraja Muthusamy, Wafa Alrubaia, Nidaa Alanazi, Faizan Zaffar Kashoo, Mohammad Miraj
Summary: This study investigated the prevalence of upper limb musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among university students in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic and their association with smartphone addiction and usage. The results showed that shoulder, elbow, and wrist/hand MSDs due to smartphone use were prevalent among participants, particularly those with smartphone addiction or overuse.
Article
Orthopedics
Ayesha Arooj, Fareeha Amjad, Fahad Tanveer, Asad Ullah Arslan, Ashfaq Ahmad, Syed Amir Gilani
Summary: This study translated and validated the Upper Limb Functional Index (ULFI) outcome measure in Urdu language and found that the Urdu version of ULFI demonstrated high levels of reliability, validity, and structural validity. It can be used as a reliable tool to assess upper limb musculoskeletal disorders in Urdu-speaking patients.
BMC MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Ilseok Lee, Jiwon Choi, Sang Hyeon Kang, Sangeun Jin
Summary: The study found that using a higher and concave desk in a standing workstation can reduce wrist extension and related muscle activity, but at the cost of a larger wrist adduction angle.
Article
Nursing
Andrea Gilchrist, Andrea Pokorna
Summary: The study found that 84.7% of Czech registered nurses reported high occurrence of LBP in the previous 12 months. Nurses with a higher level of education were significantly more likely to use mechanical patient-lifting equipment in their clinical practice, reducing the occurrence of LBP.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING
(2021)
Review
Engineering, Industrial
Jodi Oakman, Victoria Weale, Natasha Kinsman, Ha Nguyen, Rwth Stuckey
Summary: This systematic review aimed to identify accessible and validated tools for the assessment of workplace physical and psychosocial hazards, and consolidate the results into a matrix for use by work health and safety (WHS) professionals. A total of 26 tools were identified for assessing physical and psychosocial hazards in the workplace.
APPLIED ERGONOMICS
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Dongwon Kim, Corine Nicoletti, Subaryani D. H. Soedirdjo, Raziyeh Baghi, Maria-Gabriela Garcia, Thomas Laubli, Pascal Wild, Alberto Botter, Bernard J. Martin
Summary: The study found that brief voluntary contractions disrupting monotonous trapezius activity effectively modified the subsequent contraction pattern, reducing muscle fatigue.
Article
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Mahmoud Z. Mistarihi, Ammar A. Al-Omari, Abdullah F. Al-Dwairi
Summary: In this study, a developed chair attachment cushion design with an optimal air blowing technique is proposed to eliminate the negative side effects of prolonged sitting. The fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making approaches represented by FAHP and FTOPSIS were integrated to evaluate and select the optimal proposed design. Results show that the manual blowing system using an accordion blower was the optimal design concept based on the selected evaluation criteria.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Claire Marchiori, Dany H. Gagnon, Didier Pradon
Summary: This study quantified the risk level of musculoskeletal disorders in manual wheelchair users during propulsion on different slope inclinations using fuzzy logic. The results showed an increase in articular discomfort during slope propulsion, with the discomfort level closely related to the changes in kinetics.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Caitlin Farmer, Denise A. O'Connor, Hopin Lee, Kirsten McCaffery, Christopher Maher, Dave Newell, Aidan Cashin, David Byfield, Jeffrey Jarvik, Rachelle Buchbinder
Summary: The study found that common and usually non-serious terms in lumbar spine imaging reports are poorly understood by the general population, which may contribute to the burden of low back pain issues.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Brigita Gajsek, Anca Draghici, Maria Elena Boatca, Alin Gaureanu, Diana Robescu
Summary: This article explores the importance of using ergonomics methods and tools to develop social sustainability in the workplace. The study finds that implementing proposals in response to risk levels can greatly impact the factors that contribute to sustainability.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Josephine Ahenkorah Ampiah, Fiona Moffatt, Claire Diver, Paapa Kwesi Ampiah
Summary: This study explores the psychosocial impact of chronic low back pain (CLBP) among patients in Ghana, highlighting the loss of self and roles, emotional distress, fear, stigmatization and marginalization, financial burden, and social support experienced by patients. The study emphasizes the need for a biopsychosocial approach to the management of CLBP and suggests reassessing current management strategies to address the influence of healthcare professionals' beliefs on psychosocial consequences.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Parichat Ong-Artborirak, Supakan Kantow, Katekaew Seangpraw, Prakasit Tonchoy, Nisarat Auttama, Monchanok Choowanthanapakorn, Sorawit Boonyathee
Summary: The prevalence of MSDs is high among ethnic lychee-longan harvesting workers in northern Thailand, with the hands, shoulders, and neck being the most affected body parts. The ergonomic risk scores are significantly associated with MSDs in multiple body parts. Therefore, using an ergonomic approach to improve the working environment and posture movement is crucial in preventing MSDs.
Review
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Waruna L. Peiris, Flavia M. Cicuttini, Sultana Monira Hussain, Mahnuma M. Estee, Lorena Romero, Tom A. Ranger, Jessica L. Fairley, Emily C. McLean, Donna M. Urquhart
Summary: This systematic review found evidence of a relationship between body fat and its central distribution with low back and knee pain, as well as a longitudinal relationship between adiposity and back, knee and foot pain. These results highlight the potential for developing novel treatments at these sites.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Heba Jafar Sabbagh, Asma M. Shagagi, Hanin M. Basheer, Rawa A. Mahmoud, Alaa Mohammad Arafah
Summary: This study conducted at a university dental hospital in Saudi Arabia aimed to assess dental students' awareness of ergonomics and physical activities in controlling musculoskeletal pain (MS-P). The majority of students had insufficient awareness of MS-P and took limited measures to alleviate symptoms. Female students reported higher MS-P than males, and undergraduate students experienced more pain than interns and postgraduate students.
WORK-A JOURNAL OF PREVENTION ASSESSMENT & REHABILITATION
(2023)
Review
Health Care Sciences & Services
Min Cheol Chang, Yoo Jin Choo, Keeyong Hong, Mathieu Boudier-Reveret, Seoyon Yang
Summary: This study provides an overview of the treatment options for patients with upper crossed syndrome (UCS). The findings suggest that treatment programs involving exercises and techniques are effective in reducing pain and improving neck disabilities and postural deviations in UCS patients.
Article
Surgery
Benjamin McManus, James W. Galbraith, Karen Heaton, Sylvie Mrug, Brent A. Ponce, John R. Porterfield, Mark C. Schall, Despina Stavrinos
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SURGERY
(2020)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Amir Mehdizadeh, Alexander Vinel, Qiong Hu, Mark C. Schall, Sean Gallagher, Richard F. Sesek
Article
Environmental Sciences
Nathan B. Fethke, Mark C. Schall, Howard Chen, Cassidy A. Branch, Linda A. Merlino
JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE
(2020)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Leslie Gunter, Jerry Davis, Yousif Abulhassan, Richard Sesek, Sean Gallagher, Mark Schall
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Leslie Gunter, Jerry Davis, Yousif Abulhassan, Richard Sesek, Mark Schall, Sean Gallagher
APPLIED ERGONOMICS
(2020)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Mark C. Schall, Peter Chen
Summary: The article summarizes evidence-based strategies implemented to promote the safety, health, and well-being of teleworkers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. These strategies include enhancing safety leadership, managing role boundaries to reduce occupational safety and health risks, and redesigning work to strengthen interpersonal interactions.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Jordan Coker, Howard Chen, Mark C. Schall, Sean Gallagher, Michael Zabala
Summary: This study utilized an artificial neural network to predict knee flexion angles based on EMG signals and found that the accuracy of prediction was affected by the length of time into the future, with increased time leading to decreased accuracy. Furthermore, increasing the number of training trials improved the accuracy of angle prediction.
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Xuanxuan Zhang, Mark C. Schall, Howard Chen, Sean Gallagher, Gerard A. Davis, Richard Sesek
Summary: The study found that manufacturing workers generally found wearing inertial sensors to be comfortable, non-distracting, and not burdensome. Factors such as poor posture, non-cyclic tasks, and higher body mass indices contributed to small increases in discomfort and distraction ratings. Female workers reported less discomfort and distraction compared to males. The overall low ratings of discomfort, distraction, and burden suggest that inertial sensors may be suitable for extended use among manufacturing workers.
APPLIED ERGONOMICS
(2022)
Editorial Material
Environmental Sciences
Mark C. Schall, Howard Chen, Lora Cavuoto
JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Preston Riley Graben, Mark C. Schall, Sean Gallagher, Richard Sesek, Yadrianna Acosta-Sojo
Summary: This systematic review summarized the reliability of observational ergonomics exposure assessment tools for upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and identified best practices for assessing the reliability of new tools. The study found that there is no singular best practice, but rather multiple methodological approaches used by researchers.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Howard Chen, Mark C. Schall, Nathan B. Fethke
Summary: High movement velocities are a significant risk factor for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Ergonomists typically use two methods to calculate angular movement velocities of the upper arms. However, neither method accurately captures the full extent of upper arm angular velocity. A new method called gyroscope vector magnitude (GVM) is proposed, which captures angular velocities around all motion axes and more accurately represents the true angular velocities of the upper arm. Optical motion capture data demonstrates that the previous methods capture only 89% and 77% relative to the proposed method.
APPLIED ERGONOMICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Howard Chen, Mark C. Schall Jr, Scott M. Martin, Nathan B. Fethke
Summary: Joint angles of the lower extremities were measured using gyroscope and accelerometer measurements without sensor drift, but it is unclear if these methods are applicable to the upper extremity. Additionally, the potential improvement of measurement accuracy using sensor fusion algorithms compared to Kalman filter-based methods remains unknown. This study calculated elbow and wrist joint angles during a material transfer task using IMUs and kinematic constraints, with the best-performing sensor fusion algorithm resulting in low mean square errors.
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Ike R. Stutts, Mark C. Schall, Jennifer Matthews, Sean Gallagher, Grayson H. Phillips, David Umphress
Summary: This article evaluates the impact of operator background and task load on their ability to detect and respond to cyber events when controlling multiple unmanned aerial systems (UAS). The study finds that gamers have slower response times to cyber events compared to aviators and non-gamers. The findings can inform the recruitment criteria for future UAS operators.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON HUMAN-MACHINE SYSTEMS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
David Hollinger, Mark Schall, Howard Chen, Sarah Bass, Michael Zabala
Summary: This study analyzed the performance of machine learning and deep learning models in predicting future joint angles during various phases of gait. The results indicate that the bidirectional LSTM model is the most robust performer, with a mean prediction RMSE of 1.42-5.71 degrees. This suggests that deep learning methods can accurately estimate joint angles throughout the gait cycle.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MEDICAL ROBOTICS AND BIONICS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Howard Chen, Mark C. Schall, Nathan B. Fethke
APPLIED ERGONOMICS
(2020)