The jobs of hospital nurses and nursing home caregivers are often associated with risks of musculoskeletal disorders. Little is known, however, about the prevalence of such problems among nurses and caregivers in Indonesia. This study aims at determining the prevalence of musculoskeletal (MS) complaints experienced by caregivers in Indonesia and identifying relevant factors contributing to this problem. Standardized Nordic Questionnaires were distributed to 121 hospital nurses and nursing home caregivers, as a means of understanding the magnitude of the problem. Results of this study demonstrated that 75% of the respondents reported MS complaints (for any body parts) in the previous year. Roughly 40 to 50% of the respondents reported MS complaints of the upper and lower back. Complaints of the shoulder, neck, and right wrist were reported by about 30 to 40% of the respondents. Compared to their colleagues in the hospital, nursing home caregivers were six to eight times more likely to experience right shoulder problems and about three to four times more likely to develop lower back problems. Other working conditions resulting in an increased chance of MS problems included age, length of employment, and shift durations. It was suspected that poor working postures and excessive effort while handling the patients were two major factors that were in need of immediate attention. The findings of this study could be used as a basis for ergonomic interventions in both medical and home care settings. Such improvements may, in the long run, result in better morale, increased productivity, and a stronger bottom line for hospital and nursing home too.
Nursing jobs have generally been associated with poor posture and heavy exertion, particularly during patient-handling activities. Such working conditions are known to increase the risk of musculoskeletal disorders, and the use of patient-handling aids has been proposed to alleviate the problem. This study was conducted with the purpose of evaluating a patient-handling technology (PHT) prototype that was developed by the researchers for use in Indonesia. An experiment was conducted involving 12 nurse participants, who were asked to move a patient, either manually or by using the prototype. Postural analyses were performed using 3DSSPP software, Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). A Borg scale was employed to determine the participants' perceptions of the levels of exertion required during the experiment. The findings demonstrated that using the PHT prototype resulted in a substantial reduction in the compression force at the lumbar (L5/S1) joint. However, there was a marginal increase in shear force at this joint due to the push/pull activities involved in using the technology while handling the patient. This increase, however, was still within accepted biomechanical limits. Postural analyses based on the RULA and REBA demonstrated a great reduction in ergonomic risks when using the prototype. The nurses also reported reduced physical workload when using the PHT technology. Across all measures, there were reductions in the biomechanical risks of between 30% and nearly 70%. While the PHT prototype still needs design refinements, its use in medical settings has the potential to ameliorate musculoskeletal problems among nurses and caregivers.
Human-related factors are considered to be the main cause of traffic incidents or accidents, causing 69.70% of the incidents. Several studies have been conducted to identify the relationship between drowsiness or fatigue and driving performance. Furthermore, a number of other studies not only discussed the symptoms causing drowsiness but also tried to investigate related factors that cause sleepiness or fatigue while driving. On the other hand, some discussed the quantity and quality of sleep as well as food and drink intake before and while driving. This systematic review, which is based on the PRISMA method, aims to map previous studies that investigated the effect of different food/drink consumption, either taken prior to driving or while driving, on the on-road driving characteristics of drivers. Furthermore, this article is expected to serve as a reference for further research that could potentially contribute to minimizing driving errors that lead to incident or accident. From 1871 articles screened, 7 studies related to food/drink intake and driving performance were reviewed. On the basis of the existing studies, no real evidence showing the presence of the association between food intake and the monotony of the road to decrease the driving performance has been found; therefore, further research is needed.
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