Two hundred women in the third trimester of a first pregnancy were interviewed, and 50 of them were interviewed again at 4 months post partum. They were asked whether they experienced greater current difficulty in performing 46 common tasks than they did before pregnancy and were asked to grade their responses. Additional information concerning specific factors affecting each activity, such as discomfort and fatigue, was obtained, together with data concerning socioeconomic status and stress perception. The data were analysed to identify the activities whose performance was most and least affected by pregnancy, indicating that the pregnant condition affects perceived difficulty of performance in many activities. Although some activities are not amenable to ergonomic intervention, the study highlighted some in which equipment design and selection could improve the match between a task and the pregnant.
The experience of work-related back pain is associated with the handling of patients. The purpose of training is to reduce the incidence of handling-related pain, yet its effectiveness is limited. Training will only be effective if workers transfer taught knowledge from the training situation to the workplace. Whereas ergonomics has traditionally been associated with the ‘physical’ aspects of handling, this paper suggests that an ergonomic approach, by virtue of its cross disciplinarity, can support the process of designing effective training programmes, such that transfer is improved.
Non-specific back pain in children is a sizeable problem that may have implications for the prevalence of back pain in the adult population. Risk factors include age, sex, sedentariness, watching television and excessive sporting activity. This article suggests that vigorous prophylactic back education is warranted for young schoolchildren and should be continued throughout their primary and secondary education.
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