A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the Effects of New Task Chairs on Shoulder and Neck Pain Among Sewing Machine Operators: The Los Angeles Garment Study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Harrison RJ ; Janowitz I ; Rempel DM ; Ritz BR ; Wang-P-C ; Yu F
• Description:
  Study Design: This is a 4-month randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of chair design on neck/shoulder pain among sewing machine operators. Objective: Determine whether a chair with a curved seat pan leads to improved changes in monthly neck/shoulder pain scores compared with a control intervention. Summary of Background Data: Sewing machine operators experience a high prevalence and severity of neck and shoulder pain in comparison to other working populations probably due to the sustained shoulder abduction and neck and upper back flexion required of the task. An adjustable height task chair that supports a forward sitting posture may reduce these posture-related risk factors and reduce neck/shoulder pain. Materials and Methods: A total of 277 sewing machine operators with neck/shoulder pain were assigned to receive 1) miscellaneous items (control group), 2) a chair with a flat seat pan plus miscellaneous items, or 3) a chair with a curved seat pan plus miscellaneous items. Participants completed a monthly questionnaire assessing neck/shoulder pain severity. Results: Based on estimates of pain score changes from a repeat-measures linear regression, participants who received the flat seat chair experienced a decline in pain of 0.14 (95% confidence interval, 0.07-0.22) points per month compared with those in the control group, while those who received the curved seat experienced a decline of 0.34 (95% confidence interval, 0.28-0.41) points per month compared with those in the control group. These estimates did not change after adjustment for potential covariates. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that an adjustable height task chair with a curved seat pan can reduce neck and shoulder pain severity among sewing machine operators. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Ergonomics Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Health Safety Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  Assembly-line-workers Author Keywords: Neck Pain Chair Design Equipment-operators Factory-workers Machine-operation Machine-shop-workers Mathematical-models Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Occupational Health Questionnaires Randomized Controlled Trial Shoulder Pain Statistical-analysis

  More +
• ISSN:
  0362-2436
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  32
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20032015
• Citation:
  Spine 2007 Apr; 32(9):931-938
• Contact Point Address:
  David Rempel, MD, MPH, Department of Medicine, University of California - San Francisco, 1301 South 46th Street, Building 163, Richmond, CA 94804
• Email:
  david.rempel@ucsf.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Performing Organization:
  University of California - Los Angeles
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20020930
• Source Full Name:
  Spine
• End Date:
  20060929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ff10793a22b9c3ef25d70e94c47a66b5ab8910675d6c1e7bf06533570f769f6abfda196669e6115ca288302622be7032616716b95836bcef6684f76beacf48ba
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/186108/cdc_186108_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 996.98 KB ]