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Published on: March 1, 2019
The working postures among schoolchildren--a controlled intervention study on the effects of newly designed
Lea Saarni1, Clas-Håkan Nygård, Arja Rimpelä
1School of Public Health, University of Tampere, Medisiinarinkatu 3, Tampere 33014, Finland. lea.saarni@uta.fi
Background:
School workstations are often inappropriate in not offering an optimal sitting posture. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of individually adjustable saddle-type chairs with wheels and desks with comfort curve and arm support on schoolchildren's working postures compared to conventional workstations.
Methods:
Ninety-seven participants aged 12-16 years were followed for 1 year, 47 at an intervention school and 50 at a control school. Anthropometrics and workstation dimensions were measured and working postures analyzed for a part of each group (n = 21, both groups) by means of video recording at baseline, before new workstations were introduced, and during follow-up.
Results:
There was a significant increase in upright back (p= .012) and neck (p= .019) postures in the intervention group compared to controls during follow-up. The saddle-type chairs allowed significantly greater trunk-thigh angles (p < .001) among participants than conventional chairs.
Conclusions:
In schoolchildren, using individually adjustable saddle-type chairs and desks with comfort curve, a better match between workstations and anthropometric dimensions and improved working postures are obtained than using conventional workstations.
