1.Enhancing Ergonomics: Assessing the Effect of Vibrating Insole Prototype on Female School Teachers' Muscle Activity
Ayuni Nabilah Alias ; Karmegam Karuppiah
Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences 2025;21(No. 1):27-33
Introduction: Throughout the school day, teachers often endure extended periods of standing, resulting in frequent
experiences of pain and muscle fatigue by day's end. The purpose of this study was to identify the effectiveness of a
prototype of vibrating insole on muscular activity on teachers. Materials and methods: A total of 124 female school
teachers participated in this study. During a one-hour classroom teaching session, school teachers were randomly
assigned to either the experimental group or the control group. Throughout the hour-long session, wireless surface
electromyography (sEMG) sensors were used to continually monitor the muscles in the right and left legs. Results:
During the one-hour prototype testing, compared to control group, participants in the experimental group showed
a reduction in muscle activity exertion ranging from 13% to 16% in both the tibialis anterior and peroneus longus
muscles of the right and left legs. Moreover, there were significant changes of muscle activity exertion among school
teachers, X2
(15) = 289.94, p<0.001 within testing period. Conclusion: The study revealed a significant decrease
in muscle activities, especially the feet, demonstrating a gradual adaptation to the vibration effects from the insole
prototype. This contributed significantly to lower leg comfort during teaching sessions. As a result, the vibrating insole prototype was well-received by school teachers and had a positive impact on their feet comfort throughout the
experimental testing session.
2.Does Prolonged Standing at Work Among Teachers Associated With Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs)?
Ayuni Nabilah Alias ; Karmegam Karuppiah ; Vivien How ; Velu Perumal
Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences 2020;16(No.2):281-289
In order to accomplish a wide range of duties and responsibilities that may be done under unpleasant working conditions, prolonged standing posture is common with school teachers. Nevertheless, standing upright for a long time or otherwise regarded as prolonged standing frequently contributes to body pain and discomfort, muscle fatigue and even health problems such as musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The aim of this paper is to review MSDs arising from prolonged standing and spread information on existing ergonomic and non-ergonomic interventions to alleviate prolonged standing discomfort. Systematic review on prolonged standing school teachers with specific keywords were recognized to discover the appropriate studies and information in a systematic search. The informations in this review may be helpful to guide teacher, school management and researchers to implement the suitable interventions in order to minimise the health issue due to MSDs among school teachers.