A comparison of body mechanic usage in employees participating in three back injury prevention programmes

Fifty-eight subjects, 23 female and 35 male, 19-62 years of age employed by four local industries, participated in one of three different Back Injury Prevention Programmes offered by a community hospital. Group A, 31 males, received two 1.5 hr classes of informational and exercise instruction plus mandatory 10-min daily exercise participation. Group B received three 1-hr mandatory classes of informational and exercise instruction with no follow-up daily exercise, and Group C received 1 hr of information and exercise demonstration only. Differences in body mechanic performance between the three groups were examined using Body Mechanic Questionnaire (BMQ) scores. The BMQ consists of 11 Likert-type questions developed by the researcher which were administered pre-, 1-week post-, and 3-months post-class instruction. At final post-testing, Group A showed a 12.9% improvement over pre-test scores; Group B, a 5.1% increase; and Group C, a 13.3% increase. These findings are discussed in terms of mandatory, continued reinforcement and Pender's Health Promotion Model.