A literature review of anthropometric studies of school students for ergonomics purposes: Are accuracy, precision and reliability being considered?

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Despite offering many benefits, direct manual anthropometric measurement method can be problematic due to their vulnerability to measurement errors. OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this literature review was to determine, whether or not the currently published anthropometric studies of school children, related to ergonomics, mentioned or evaluated the variables precision, reliability and/or accuracy in the direct manual measurement method. METHODS:Two bibliographic databases, and the bibliographic references of all the selected papers were used for finding relevant published papers in the fields considered in this study. RESULTS:Forty-six (46) studies met the criteria previously defined for this literature review. However, only ten (10) studies mentioned at least one of the analyzed variables, and none has evaluated all of them. Only reliability was assessed by three papers. Moreover, in what regards the factors that affect precision, reliability and accuracy, the reviewed papers presented large differences. This was particularly clear in the instruments used for the measurements, which were not consistent throughout the studies. Additionally, it was also clear that there was a lack of information regarding the evaluators' training and procedures for anthropometric data collection, which are assumed to be the most important issues that affect precision, reliability and accuracy. CONCLUSIONS:Based on the results it was possible to conclude that the considered anthropometric studies had not focused their attention to the analysis of precision, reliability and accuracy of the manual measurement methods. Hence, and with the aim of avoiding measurement errors and misleading data, anthropometric studies should put more efforts and care on testing measurement error and defining the procedures used to collect anthropometric data.Keywords: anthropometry, measurements, repeatability. INTRODUCTIONAnthropometry is the branch of the human sciences that deals with body measurements: measurements of size, shape, strength and working capacity [1]. The anthropometric data are essential for applying ergonomic principles for the design and improvement of a wide range of products for different users [2][3][4]. In school environments, anthropometry has become an important discipline, as it can be used to provide relevant students' anthropometric characteristics, which in turn can be used to provide critical information for school furniture design [5,6]. When the correct anthropometric data and sample population are not consider, a mismatch between anthropometric dimensions and school furniture may occur, which could ultimately result in the development of musculoskeletal disorders within the students and other problems related to the learning process [7][8][9]. Additionally, if school furniture is not locally designed, importers should ensure that the appropriate anthropometric data were considered, so that imported school furniture fits the intended use and users [10]. On the other hand, when employed correctly, anthr...

Developing a Multi-Criteria Decision Making approach to compare types of classroom furniture considering mismatches for anthropometric measures of university students

“…Anthropometry and ergonomics have been used to develop new furniture forms by incorporating adjustability to accommodate a broader range of people and populations [ 3 ]. The anthropometry data are essential for applying ergonomic principles for the design and improvement of different products [ 4 ].…”

“…In educational ambiances, anthropometry has become a crucial discipline. It can be used to provide pertinent students’ anthropometric specifications, which can be used to put out critical information for school furniture design [ 4 ]. In developing countries, most classroom furniture has been found to have caused distractions and injuries to users due to wooden material and lack of quality [ 3 ].…”

“…When the correct anthropometric data and sample population are not considered, a mismatch between anthropometric measures and dimensions of classroom furniture may occur [ 4 ]. A “mismatch” is defined as incompatibility between the classroom furniture dimensions and the students’ anthropometric measures [ 7 ].…”

“…The mismatch is evaluated by mismatch equations that define the minimum and maximum limit of the furniture dimensions by using the anthropometric measures [ 12 ]. The mismatch could ultimately result in the development of musculoskeletal disorders within the students like low back pain [ 13 ] and other problems related to the learning process [ 4 ] because of poor classroom sitting posture [ 2 ]. So that some studies reported a large number of grade-school children and teenagers involved regular concerns of back and neck pain [ 14 ].…”

Ergonomic evaluation of school furniture in Slovenia: From primary school to university

“…The anthropometric measurements were performed manually with GPM anthropometric measurement set (Gneupel Präzisions-Mechanik, Swizterland). All measurements were taken by a trained team of researchers who performed a pilot study to assess intra-rater (degree of agreement of single rater in one visit), inter-rater (degree of agreement among two raters in one visit) and inter-visit (degree of agreement of single rater in two separate visits) reliability to ensure high-quality measurements [ 41 ]. Intra class correlation (ICC) was interpreted as described by Koo and Mau [ 42 ].…”