What is it about?
IntroductionMusculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are often associated withergonomic risk factors,1and there is an association betweenthe socioeconomic positions of workers and musculoskeletalpain at various anatomical sites of pain.2Evidence suggestsergonomic risk features including contact stress, awkwardposture (positions of the body that deviate significantly fromthe neutral position while performing work activities), andrepetition are the main cause of many ergonomic associ-ated MSDs.3Studies have demonstrated these ergonomicMSDs can lead to absenteeism and even disability,4and alsocan lead to medical leave due to physical injuries/pain,and this can potentially have a negative influence on thefinancial productivity and efficiency of the employer.5MSDsaffect both the individuals’ quality life and also have neg-atively impact on the productivity of the organization theyare working with.The musculoskeletal problems are especially pre-dominant in industrialized countries since they affectapproximately 70---80% of adults at some point in theirlives.6,7Most MSDs affect areas such as the neck, shoul-ders, and low back. The World Health Organization (WHO)has reported physique and working environment of a per-son, along with other sociological and psychosocial risks,can help work-related MSDs.8This recommends a relation-ship between MSDs and working situations among workers ofoffice.
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Why is it important?
The novelty of this research is related to the link madebetween sport science and occupational health and intro-duce a treatment, which has minimal side effects comparedto other interventions and can improve companies’ finan-cial efficiency and productivity by decreasing MSDs-inducedstaff absence. Therefore, the purpose of this study was toevaluate the effects of a 6-month office training exercise,ergonomic modification, and a combination of the trainingexercise and ergonomic modification on the neck, shoulders,and lower back discomfort perception scores among officeworkers. It was hypothesized that 6 months intervention isable to reduce pain intensity among office workers.
Perspectives
This study provides preliminary evidence for the use ofergonomic modification and exercise to improve discomfortfor office workers with MSDs. Based on the results of thisstudy there was not a significant difference among treat-ment groups after 4 months intervention, but all the groupsshowed a significant improvement in comparison with thecontrol group (no-treatment) and comparison with theirbaseline scores. It should be noted that there was not a sig-nificant improvement in the ergonomic modification groupand exercise and ergonomic modification group from 4thmonth to the 6th month. However, this improvement wassignificant in the exercise group related to shoulders andlower back. This demonstrates that exercise modificationwas more effective in comparison with ergonomic modi-fication after 4 months. It should be suggested that forthe physical therapist and occupation therapist to use theexercise training for long-term treatment rather than onlyergonomic modification. It is suggested that future studiesshould examine different exercise protocols among white-collar and blue-collar workers in various occupations.
Dr Ardalan Shariat
Tehran University of Medical Sciences
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Effects of stretching exercise training and ergonomic modifications on musculoskeletal discomforts of office workers: a randomized controlled trial, Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy, March 2018, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.bjpt.2017.09.003.
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