Outcomes of Participatory Ergonomics and Self-Management in Commercial Clam Farmers with Chronic Low Back Pain: A Feasibility Study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bishop MD ; Coffman A ; Dunleavy K ; Kane A ; Reidy J
• Description:
  Purpose: Participatory ergonomics engages workers in the development of strategies to reduce workplace-related pain, offering a flexible and practical option to create individualized context-specific strategies. This paper describes the outcomes of a feasibility study using a participatory approach for self-management of low back pain in clam farmers. Methods: A within-subject time-control design with repeated baseline and post-intervention assessment was used. After refining individual and team-based strategies, stakeholder interviews, and rapid prototyping, workers selected three strategies to use for 8 weeks. Frequency and ease of use for strategies are described. Pre-post paired t-tests were used for analysis of pain-related disability, difficulty and pain with work tasks, pain-related fear, self-efficacy, and coping. Analysis of improvements exceeding published and individual variability was calculated. Results: Participants chose both team and individual strategies, most using strategies 5 days a week >50% of the time. Significant improvements in pain-related disability, pain during specific tasks, pain-related anxiety, and coping were seen after 8 weeks of implementing strategies. No changes in task difficulty, fear, self-efficacy and average resting pain were reported. Pain improvements > MDC95 were reported by 74% with 56-64% > personalized MDC95 for lifting tasks. Conclusions: Pain-related disability, work activity pain ratings and related pain anxiety and coping improved beyond individual variability in this feasibility study. Multiple strategies allowed workers to choose relevant self-management options. Introduction of work-related changes in the workplace, visual demonstration, review of team videos and reminders were helpful. Further studies of this approach are needed. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Ergonomics Farmers Mental Health Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Nervous System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Low Back Pain Clam Farmers Coping Behavior Intervention Effectiveness Low Back Pain Mental Health MSD Musculoskeletal Disorders Participatory Ergonomics Self-management
• ISSN:
  1059-924X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Florida ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  217-231
• Volume:
  27
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20067993
• Citation:
  J Agromedicine 2022 Apr; 27(2):217-231
• Contact Point Address:
  Kim Dunleavy, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Florida, PO Box 100154, Gainesville 32610-0154, Florida
• Email:
  kdunleavy@phhp.ufl.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Florida, Gainesville
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20160930
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Agromedicine
• End Date:
  20270929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e21bfd09bd47fceced60c2a4d58b21d0d702a02c428db8c26ccd4c91f57da1f952f1f9a9f9527184aae77e23aba8d3a79bcd2378f0f82a2c94f5aab642b25b80
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/230224/cdc_230224_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.88 MB ]