1.Sitmate: an android mobile application for the prevention of musculoskeletal discomfort among a business process outsourcing company workforce management personnel.
Mary Sophia A. Bansale ; Ramses Sonny F. Dagoy ; Joseph James R. Hiso ; Khio Jerick D. Jumarang ; Emmanuel Luis F. Manila ; Mary Melissa Rayne F. Tuazon ; Anna Margarita Miling
Health Sciences Journal 2023;12(1):20-27
INTRODUCTION:
Due to COVID-19 pandemic, many have shifted into working at home which led to physical
inactivity. This may cause musculoskeletal discomfort, chronic disease, muscle atrophy and spinal
imbalance due to improper and prolonged sitting posture. Since mobile devices are relatively available
for most of the office workers, there were still a lack of evidence-based mobile applications that can
counteract the inactivity through exercises, which led to the researchers to create an application called
SitMate that consists of evidence-based exercises which aimed to prevent musculoskeletal discomfort
among a business process outsourcing company Workforce Management Personnel (BPO-WMP).
METHODS:
Eleven participants (18-40 years old) full-time, work-from-home BPO-WMP were randomized
into Treatment Group(TG)(n=6) and Control Group (CG)(n=5). The TG received one month intervention with
the use of SitMate Application containing relaxation exercises, range of motion exercises and stretching
exercises, and notifications for postural correction while the CG continued their usual working schedule.
RESULTS:
There were no significant differences between two groups on all body parts that were measured
using the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire, and no significant differences in the
intragroup pre-test and post-test scores on all body parts between TG and CG. For the intra-group
post-test of the TG, there were noted improvements on the hip/buttock, right shoulder, upper back
(median = 0) and right wrist (median = 1.5). There was also a noted increase in discomfort on the neck
(median = 1.5) and lower back (median = 3). For the post-test of the CG, there were noted improvements
on the right shoulder, right wrist (median = 0) and lower back (median = 1.5).
CONCLUSION
This study has shown that the SitMate application does not effectively reduce the prolonged
sitting-related discomfort among the personnel after 1 month of intervention.
mobile application
;
musculoskeletal discomfort
;
physical inactivity
;
low back pain
;
posture
2.Creating A Culture Of Prevention In Occupational Safety And Health Practice: Perceived Body Discomfort In Two Sitting Positions
Sukadarin EH ; Qian FS ; Nawi NSM ; Deros BM ; Zakaria J
Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine 2018;18(Special Volume (2)):47-51
Prolonged sitting is one of the factors for back discomfort. Sitting in the same position for long periods of time is worse. This experimental based study was conducted to achieve three objectives. There were to 1) identify whether is there any differences between perceived body discomfort among respondents before and after upright sitting, 2) identify whether is there any differences between perceived body discomfort among respondents before and after slump sitting and 3) compare the level of perceived body discomfort among respondents after two sitting postures. Thirty young and healthy adults were recruited as study respondents. Each respondent was asked to sit in a posture either upright or slump for 30 minutes. Respondents were then rated their body discomfort using Borg CR-10 scale before and after sitting. Another sitting posture was carried out after one day interval. There is a significant difference between perceived body discomfort among respondents before and after upright and slump sitting. Body discomfort of upright sitting was shown significantly greater than slump sitting. Although, slump sitting caused less discomfort than upright, but it proven by previous studies did not provide benefit to occupational safety and health practice in preventing occupational health related disease.
Upright sitting
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slump sitting
;
back discomfort
;
safety and health
;
injury prevention