Frequency of postural changes during sitting whilst using a desktop computer--exploring an analytical methodology
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Published on: December 11, 2013
Sjan-Mari van Niekerk1, Quinette Abigail Louw, Karen Grimmer-Sommers
1a Department of Physiotherapy, FNB Movement Analysis Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences , University of Stellenbosch , Cape Town , South Africa.
Background:
Dynamic movement whilst sitting is advocated as a way to reduce musculoskeletal symptoms from seated activities. Conventionally, in ergonomics research, only a 'snapshot' of static sitting posture is captured, which does not provide information on the number or type of movements over a period of time. A novel approach to analyse the number of postural changes whist sitting was employed in order to describe the sitting behaviour of adolescents whilst undertaking computing activities.
Methods:
A repeated-measures observational study was conducted. A total of 12 high school students were randomly selected from a conveniently selected school. Fifteen minutes of 3D posture measurements were recorded to determine the number of postural changes whilst using computers.
Results:
Data of 11 students were able to be analysed. Large intra-subject variation of the median and IQR was observed, indicating frequent postural changes whilst sitting.
Conclusion:
Better understanding of usual dynamic postural movements whilst sitting will provide new insights into causes of musculoskeletal symptoms experienced by computer users.
