Low Back Pain-Behavior Correction by Providing Haptic Feedbacks: A Preliminary Investigation

Area of Science:

• Ergonomics and Occupational Health
• Biomedical Engineering
• Rehabilitation Science

Background:

• Nurses frequently engage in activities involving forward bending and awkward back postures, leading to a high prevalence of low back pain (LBP).
• Previous interventions like education and training in proper lifting techniques have shown promise but require daily reinforcement.
• Wearable technology offers a potential solution for continuous, real-time monitoring and feedback to prevent LBP.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and evaluate a wearable device designed to monitor nurses' back posture.
• To provide haptic feedback to users when performing potentially harmful movements.
• To assess the effectiveness of this wearable device in improving back posture during common nursing activities.

Main Methods:

• A wearable device was developed to monitor back posture across three axes: pitch, roll, and yaw.
• Participants wore the device during three common nursing tasks in three sessions: baseline (no feedback), training (with haptic feedback), and validation (feedback off).
• Posture data was analyzed to compare improvements between sessions.

Main Results:

• Posture improved by over 40% for pitch and roll, and 7% for yaw when comparing baseline to training sessions.
• Comparing baseline to validation sessions, posture improved by over 50% for pitch and roll, and over 20% for yaw.
• These findings indicate a significant positive impact of the haptic feedback on posture correction.

Conclusions:

• The developed wearable device effectively monitors back posture and provides corrective haptic feedback.
• The study demonstrates a significant improvement in nurses' back posture, suggesting a viable method for LBP prevention.
• Continuous monitoring and feedback through wearable technology can be a valuable tool in reducing occupational LBP among healthcare professionals.